Govt set to hire audit firm for outsourcing airports

Move will help bring airports on a par with global standards, enhance earnings

KARACHI:

The government is set to hire an audit firm for outsourcing of major airports of the country in order to bring them on a par with international standards and enhance their earnings.

According to a statement issued on Friday, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan chaired a high-level meeting on the outsourcing of major airports at the Aviation Division.

Though proposals for outsourcing major airports, including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, had been made during the tenure of previous governments, they could not be implemented.

Earlier, in a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Imran Khan decided to outsource major airports of the country in a bid to increase their service standards and revenues.

Late in May 2020, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz told the media that the government was in search for an international organisation with experience of operating and managing airports.

The decision to hire an audit firm comes as a follow-up to that announcement. In Friday's meeting, Sarwar was briefed on the process of outsourcing airports, said Aviation Division spokesman Abdul Sattar Khokhar.

The minister was informed that as per directives of the cabinet, an audit firm would be hired in the initial phase to carry the process forward in accordance with best international practices.

The National Aviation Policy (NAP) 2019 envisages public-private partnership (PPP) for exploiting the commercial and tourism potential of major airports as well as small and medium-sized airports such as Gilgit, Skardu and Chitral.

At major airports, terminal sides may be outsourced to world-class operators through transparent and competitive bidding, according to NAP 2019.

Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) will earn revenue either in the form of annual fee or through an appropriate equity partnership model.

Through competitive bidding, the available land of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad airports will be given to private companies for developing a perishable facility, cold chain and common facility for housing banks, freight forwarders and shipping agencies.