D I Khan airport to be operational soon

Federal govt and aviation authorities have given the green signal to revamp the facility

PESHAWAR: The federal government and aviation authorities have given a green signal to revamp the Dera Ismail Khan airport after which local flights may resume shortly.

A report available with the Express media group stated that federal government has allocated two new vehicles to the D I Khan airport after years of struggle of the federal minister for Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan affairs Ali Amin Gandapur from the district and international quotation for runway testing and airport survey has been called in.

For the checking of the runway a team of experts have arrived at the airport who are going to submit their report to the federal minister and minister for aviation in Islamabad soon, as the airport was dysfunctional since many years due to zero flights.

The Federal has taken a personal interest into the affairs of the airport and donated two new pick-ups to the airport and soon after the report once declared satisfactory, domestic flights would resume in the district facilitating passengers of Bakkar, Tank, D I Khan, South and North Waziristan.

It is pertinent to mention that D I Khan Airport is located in a most strategic location as it’s the shortest route to the Afghan capital, and nearest to Central Asian states.

However, the facility remained inactive after flight operations and domestic flights were cancelled due to limited and expensive operations.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2019.