Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, and Islamabad airports to be outsourced by govt
The government has approved a draft to outsource three of its major airports in a bid to boost its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the government considered a summary presented by the Ministry of Aviation regarding the engagement of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank Group, as a transaction advisor for the outsourcing process.
The airports that will be outsourced are the Jinnah International Airport Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, and Islamabad International Airport.
The committee, headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, initiated the outsourcing process under the Public-Private Partnership Act-2017 to engage private investors/airport operators to run the airports, develop associated land assets, and enhance commercial activities. The committee also approved the draft Transaction Advisory Agreement (TASA) reached with the IFC by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) for the outsourcing of the airports after a detailed discussion.
The details of the partnership or any agreement have not been made official. According to officials, Pakistan has been in talks with Qatar to jointly run terminals at the three airports.
Prime Minister visited Doha last year to seek Qatari investment in the country’s energy and aviation sectors, and the Qatar Investment Authority pledged $3 billion to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s national flag carrier is struggling with accumulated losses of nearly Rs400 billion Pakistani rupees, and the government hopes that outsourcing the airports will help attract direct foreign investment and provide world-class facilities to passengers.