Karachi: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has opted to improve the Skardu Airport in Gilgit-Baltistan, a news source reported on March 19. The planned upgrade will enable the airport to handle international flights and consequently, improve tourism in the country.
According to the details revealed, the aviation supervisor has called for the Skardu Airport facility to be able to accommodate international flights by June-July of this year. The airport is situated at an altitude of over 7,000 feet and is listed among the highest altitude airports in the world.
In order to facilitate flights in abnormal weather conditions, the two runaways of the airport will be equipped with a modern CAT-I systems. The CAA earlier initiated a test flight in order to ascertain whether the airport would be able to handle international flights and to that effect, a PIA flight Airbus-320 landed safely at airport.
According to the PIA spokesperson, Abdullah Hafeez, initially, biweekly flights will be operated from Lahore to Gilgit and Skardu and more will be added in the future, keeping the numbers of passengers in view.
