Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Friday issued instructions to start outsourcing three major airports, including Jinnah International Karachi, Islamabad International, and Allama Iqbal International Lahore, under a public-private partnership.
On Friday, PM Shehbaz Sharif presided over an important meeting on aviation and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) related issues in Islamabad.
PM Shehbaz has directed that in outsourcing airports, all relevant institutions should take faster steps on a priority basis, and transparency should be taken care of in this process.
The authorities briefed the meeting about the outsourcing of Pakistani airports. The meeting was informed that the PIA had achieved revenue of Rs172 billion in 2022, the highest ever in PIA’s history.
Outsourcing of airports a profitable practice
The meeting was told that outsourcing airports worldwide is a common profitable practice and is considered among the international best practices.
The meeting was told that initially, the country’s two major airports, Islamabad International and Jinnah International Karachi, will be outsourced. This process will be completed under a public-private partnership.
Outsourcing the three airports will not only bring profit to the government, but world-standard facilities will also be available to the passengers at the airports.
In the first phase of the outsourcing, the meeting decided to run the three airports mentioned above in Pakistan through global operations that will have a global reputation.
International operators will assist in running these airports for 20 to 25 years.
The meeting also approved receiving support from the World Bank’s subsidiary organization–the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The International Finance Corporation will also provide consultancy and international service standards at the airports.
PM Shehbaz initially instructed to start outsourcing three major airports of the country, Jinnah International Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Lahore, and Islamabad International Airport, under a public-private partnership, saying that all concerned institutions should speed up the process. Take steps and take special care of accountability and transparency in this process.
PM Shehbaz directed to formation of a special committee to complete the airports’ outsourcing process on a priority and effective basis.
Prime Minister himself will chair the special committee, the Federal Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister of Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafiq, the Federal Minister of Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, the Federal Secretary of Aviation Division, and the Federal Secretary of Planning will be included in the committee.
