KARACHI: The New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), the $ 246 m green field airport being built at an area of 4,300 acres would be operational by September 2023. According to an official source, the passenger terminal building of the project would be completed by June 2023; work related to air traffic control by March 2023, while the overall construction of the airport would be finished before September 2023.

The NGIA was being managed and operated by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). To be owned by a joint venture between Pakistan, Oman, and China, the airport would handle domestic and international operations. The airport development is a part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development, which was a cornerstone of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

The biggest in Pakistan and would also become the nation’s second airport capable of handling A380 aircraft upon its commissioning in 2022. It was expected to stimulate the development in Gwadar peninsula and boost trade between Pakistan and China. The airport would be operated under open sky policy and developed under the guidance of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The NGIA project was initiated as an early harvest high-priority project of the CPEC programme in 2014.

It was approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2015. The project was being funded through a grant agreement signed between China and Pakistan in May 2017.