On Friday, Khawaja Saad Rafique, the minister of aviation, declared in front of the National Assembly that the Islamabad Airport would be contracted out for 15 years.
“The navigational services and runway operations will not be outsourced. The CAA will continue to do it,” he said on the floor of the house. “The rest will be outsourced.”
He further stated that the government’s advisor on the subject is the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a division of the World Bank.
Govt. to Outsource Islamabad International Airport
In March, the finance ministry said that preparations to outsource airports had started. The government announced toward the end of last month that it was now only looking to outsource the Islamabad Airport. The Civil Aviation Authority informed a NA panel last week that outsourcing was already underway.
Today, the minister said on the floor of the house that “12-13 companies have shown interest and that there will be competitive bidding”. He informed the legislators that all guidelines for public procurement are being adhered to. “We are proceeding under the private-public partnership authority rules,” he said.
“This will be Pakistan’s first air station that we are outsourcing. In it, the best international practices will be implemented,” the PML-N leader added that after that, the air stations in Lahore and Karachi would be contracted out.
“The whole world has done this. We must decide if we want to remain in the stone age.”
According to him, private operators employ the best air station operating procedures worldwide.
“In our neighbouring country India, there are around eight airports whose operations have been outsourced. Likewise, Istanbul’s airport is outsourced, Madinah’s air station is outsourced. There are countless examples.”
He said outsourcing “does not at all mean” that the airport is being sold or mortgaged, or that anyone will be made jobless. “I have been repeatedly saying this, and I am stating on the floor of the house that [with regard to] Islamabad Airport — which the government wants to outsource and which we are working towards — no employee will be rendered jobless. Everyone will have job security and they will get their salaries as per the law.”
To read our blog on “Govt. outsourcing the critical Islamabad Airport in 2023,” click here.