Gwadar’s booming port city is set to receive its biggest boost to date when work begins on its international airport. When complete, the site will be the biggest of its kind in the whole of Pakistan and the numbers involved in its construction are truly astronomical.
Members of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Alliance and individual investors in Gwadar have been waiting for confirmed news for many years and now, it would seem that construction is just about to start.
When will construction of Gwadar’s airport begin?
Stories in the international press began to emerge in February 2019 and these reports confirmed that work on the airport at international port city Gwadar would start in April 2019. There is a small caveat with that claim however because the stories quoted ‘official sources’ who went on to state that the rumours would soon be officially confirmed by the Pakistani government.
As of March 2019, that official word from the government has yet to materialise. It is therefore not quite certain that April will be the start date for building to commence but we can assume that construction of this important artery is imminent.
When did the planning process for Gwadar airport start?
Development of Gwadar Port has been gathering pace for a number of years and it soon became apparent that the city would need its own airport. We can date its origins back to 2017 when the government became involved in signing a grant agreement. Officials decided on a name for the airport and planning then began in earnest.
That planning process was a steady one at first but things really started to gather momentum at the start of 2019. That was the point when the government in Balochistan confirmed the Masterplan for Gwadar. The airport was central to that plan and while we wait for that April start date to be ratified, progress is now gathering pace.
How much will Gwadar international airport cost?
When complete, Gwadar international airport will be the biggest in the country and the numbers involved are quite staggering. The total cost of the project is listed at $264 million but that is just the start of some incredible figures.
The airport itself will take up some 4,300 acres of land and it’s that figure that really underlines the scale of this whole project. Over in Karachi, the city’s airport occupies 3,700 acres. Islamabad International stands at 3,600 while Lahore drops to 2,800.
Capable of hosting vast aircraft including ATR72 plus Boeing B-737 and B-747 it is an immensely large vehicle and the scale simply underlines just how important Gwadar is to the economy of Pakistan moving forward.
We suggest following the news closely as an exact start date for Gwadar International Airport is expected to be confirmed very shortly. The sources quoted in the February 2019 newspaper reports seemed certain of that April commencement date and that could still be a realistic target.