Bacha Khan Airport: renovation work to be completed by November 2017

Renovation work on Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar, will be completed by November 2017, a parliamentary panel was told on Wednesday. The officials of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Wednesday told a Special Committee formed on the matter that renovation and expansion work on the airport is being carried out speedily.
The committee directed the CAA to design a map for the easy access to the Airport in Peshawar and prepare PC-I of the project. The committee was convened by Senator Mohsin Aziz, which discussed Bacha Khan International Airport with respect to its expansion and renovation work.
The chairman committee directed CAA to speed up the construction work to meet the deadline of the project, adding that international flights should be facilitated and for that purpose CAA needs to increase the clearance counters of airlines. The committee also suggested increasing the road lanes from two to four to access the airport easily.
Senator Nisar Mohammad expressed his reservation over the project plan and said the project must be planned for a long-term. Senator Brigadier John Kenneth William retd) suggested expanding the parking area as it is of utmost importance. During the meeting, the members expressed annoyance over the time CAA took sending the briefing papers.
Since all roads pass through cantonment area and due to barriers, passengers face problems and it takes unreasonably long time to reach the airport, which is wastage of time. However, the CAA briefed that 140,000 passengers use airport services in a year, whereby the airport lacks the working staff. The CAA officials informed the committee that new airport will accommodate 900 people to sit and wait for the flights, while one-third of its part will be available for cargo.