The Cabinet which is scheduled to meet on Friday (today) with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair will consider outsourcing of airports and miscellaneous facilities to the private sector. According to official sources, airports infrastructure in the country needs to be modernised in line with global standards to cater to the needs of passengers and shippers.
The following policy guidelines have been given in the National Aviation Policy 2015 for development of infrastructure at the airports:
(i) airports shall be made safer and user friendly. Commensurate with anticipated increase in traffic demand, optimum capacity utilisation and efficient management shall be ensured while appropriate world call airport infrastructure is provided. To achieve this goal, participation by the private sector would be encouraged ;(ii) private sector shall be encouraged to construct and/or operate new/existing airports, airstrips, water lakes for amphibian aircraft operations, helipads, heliports including cargo complexes on Build-Operate-Own (BOO) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis or any other suitable management arrangement, and to raise non-aeronautical revenues from these premises. Construction for new commercial airports in the private sector will be permitted to meet the growth in air traffic;(iii) land of all major airports shall be utilised more effectively for commercial purposes with the involvement of private sector and ;(iv) land at remote and non-operational airports shall be utilised for non- aeronautical commercial and recreational purposes. Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority will be given the task to formulate land lease policy to make it commercially viable for private investors and/or provincial governments without jeopardising aviation activities.
At present all small and medium airports are running losses due to insufficient passenger traffic and commercial activity is almost nil. Exploiting the commercial and tourism potential of small and medium sized airports like Gilgit, Skardu, Chitral, etc, would be explored.
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority can enter into suitable Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to separate management and development of these airports. For major airports the model of PPP can also be followed to improve revenue and quality of service. The airports can be outsourced to world class companies of international standing through transparent and competitive process. For this purpose, consultants can be hired for outsourcing of such facilities at airports. This will ensure provision of world class service besides Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority can yield revenue either in the shape of annual fee structure or through appropriate equity partnership models. This will also help in separation of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority roles of service provider and regulator. The Cabinet will also approve initiation of negotiations on inter-governmental agreement between Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Ministry of Economic Development of Italy for supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
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