Airports at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad: IFC team assessing prospects for outsourcing of services

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has begun working on the outsourcing of operations and land assets of the country’s three major airports — Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

According to sources, the incumbent government has engaged the IFC as an adviser for the outsourcing process. The Civil Aviation Authority Board has approved the acquisition of IFC’s advisory services.

The federal cabinet has approved the draft Transaction Advisory Agreement (TASA) with the IFC by Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA) to outsource three airports.

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An IFC team, which has already visited the Karachi and Lahore airports, landed at the Islamabad airport on Monday and met senior officials from the airport’s management, ASF, ANF, Customs and FIA. The team members also met representatives of the Pakistan International Airlines, Emirates and Saudi Airlines at the airport.

The team’s visit will continue until April 14 and its members will meet representatives of the ground handling agencies and general aviation at the airport on Tuesday (Apr 11). The IFC team will also visit different parts and sectors of the airport to assess and evaluate its facilities and operations.

The government emphasised the outsourcing of services at the airports last December and termed it a common profit-driven practice worldwide. The prime minister, in a social media post, revealed that the government planned to outsource airports under the public-private partnership mode, which is being implemented in 44 countries, including the United States, UK, India, Bahrain and Brazil.

The government saw it as a major decision that would pave the way to foreign direct investment (FDI), which would help provide international standards and services at the airports.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023