New Gwadar Airport Accelerates Construction Post-Lockdown Easing
The highly anticipated New Gwadar International Airport is making significant progress in its second phase, as it approaches completion as a collaborative effort between Pakistan and China.
Situated in Gurandani, approximately 26 km northeast of Gwadar in Balochistan, this airport comes with a price tag of USD 230 million.
P.c. Moosa Karim
According to Zhang Baozhong, Chairman of the China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC), "The second phase involves the construction of a permanent station, igniting an acceleration in development activities."
Remarkably, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, construction of the airport has continued uninterrupted, in accordance with the established timeline.
The airport is projected to be finalized within three years, at which point it will become Pakistan's second-largest airport, connecting Gwadar to global destinations.
Lieutenant General (retired) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, shared this milestone on May 7.
Prime Minister Imran Khan initiated the groundbreaking ceremony on March 29, 2019, with construction commencing on October 31, 2019.
Distinguished as an Early Harvest High Priority Project of CPEC, this airport is a debt-free endeavor, financed entirely through grant assistance from the Chinese government.
To ensure a steady supply of electricity for construction, the federal government granted a license for the installation of a 130 KW power plant near the site, as confirmed by Nadir Baloch, a senior official of the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA).
As lockdown restrictions ease, particularly in the construction sector, work on the airport is progressing at full throttle following the COVID-19 pandemic.