Opposition to resist govt plan to outsource services at major airports

Senate panel has rejected government’s plan to outsource services at the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports

ISLAMABAD: The government will again be facing stiff resistance from opposition parties over its plan to outsource certain services at major airports.

A Senate panel has rejected the government’s plan to outsource these services at the airports in Karachi and Lahore and another one in Islamabad which is under-construction to private operators with international experience.

Earlier this year, the government had issued an advertisement seeking bids from domestic and international operators to run certain services at these airports. Soon after the advertisement, PPP Senator Taj Haider took up the matter in the Senate on February 16 this year.

The chairman Senate referred the issue to the Senate’s standing committee on cabinet secretariat. The panel called up officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for briefings.



According to CAA officials, the proposal was in accordance with the National Aviation policy, approved in 2015.

“Outsourcing of management of airports is neither privatisation nor public private-partnership instead, a concession license for management of airports shall be granted [to the successful bidder],” the report quoted the director-general of CAA as telling the Senate committee.

CAA officials maintained that ownership of all assets – both aeronautical and non-aeronautical – would continue to vest with the government and the CAA would continue to act as a regulatory body.

After several meetings, the Senate penal compiled its report rejecting the government’s point of view. The report further stated that most members of the committee believed that outsourcing was just privatisation in another guise.



“As earlier experience regarding PTCL, K-Electric and other government departments did not succeed, a number of issues will be raised here as well,” the panel wrote in its report.

However, the panel suggested to the government to outsource car parking, hotels and shops at the mentioned airports.

For the incumbent PML-N government, it would be difficult to execute its plan to outsource services at major airports.