New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), built on 4,300 acres and costing $246 million, is expected to open in September 2023 and will serve local and international flights.
Construction on the airport is expected to be completed in various stages: the passenger terminal building will be done in June 2023, air traffic control will be completed in March 2023, and the entire airport construction will be completed in September 2023.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is controlled by a tripartite venture between Pakistan, Oman, and China, manages and operates the New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), which will handle domestic and international operations.
One of the pillars of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) strategy is the massive China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which includes the new airport. The NGIA will be Pakistan’s second A380-capable airport when it launches in 2022, making it the country’s largest airport. The Gwadar peninsula’s development and trade with China will be boosted as a result, making the region a geopolitical centre of investment and trade prospects.
The airport will be operated and developed in accordance with the CAA’s open sky policy. The CPEC initiative began work on the New Gwadar International Airport in 2014 as an early harvest high-priority project.
In May 2017, a grant agreement was signed between China and Pakistan, and the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in January 2015. Soil testing on the project site began in January 2018 and comprised drilling 300 boreholes in various areas as part of the Airport construction. In March 2019, the construction of the airport was formally started.
