Adviser on aviation says development work in final stages. PHOTO: FILE
Speaking to the media after inaugurating a two-day meeting of Directors General of Civil Aviation of the Developing-8 (D-8) organisation and experts working group at a local hotel, he said that development work on the airport was in the final stages and it would be completed by the end of this year.
The project has been racked with delays. It was supposed to ready by Independence Day this year, but the deadline was pushed forward to December due to lack of link roads and many other basic infrastructure issues like construction of a third runway.
Now the adviser on aviation has announced first quarter of next year as new deadline for the project.
He said the work on Gwadar Airport would commence in September, next year. Mehtab said that significant development was being made in the aviation sector of the country adding that the latest radar technology was being introduced.
The authority, he said was taking steps to equip important airports of the country with latest navigation and airport systems to fulfill the promise of the present government of revamping the overall aviation system. “We are moving fast for complete revamping of our air navigation system, up-gradation and extension of civil airports and acquisition of state-of-the-art security equipment”, he said.
He said radars with enhanced coverage had already been installed along with ADS-B systems, which would be completed by next year. He said the work was in progress at Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Faisalabad airports where the expansion as well as latest aviation system would be in place shortly.
He said besides replacing the present radar system, the authority was also focusing on other facilities like boarding bridges, roads infrastructure, parking and lounges, training facilities. These steps will facilitate passengers as well as air traffic operations, he said. He said during the past few years Turkey had made tremendous progress in aviation sector, while Iran was also moving forward in that area.
He said in the meeting, he had proposed more cooperation and experience sharing among the D-8 countries in the aviation sector. He said Pakistan was also making positive progress in aviation sector; however it would have to pay more attention on its human resource and take steps for its development.
He said Pakistan’s defence production was very good and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex’s contributions were commendable. To a question, he said that steps were being taken to ensure flight safety and security of passengers. To another query, he said that Aviation Policy 2015 was a forward looking policy as it also encouraged private sector a lot.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2017.
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