Gwadar International Airport will carry out experimental flight within 60 days
Recently, the key project of CPEC, Gwadar International Airport, has completed 55% of the project volume and will carry out experimental flights within 60 days.
Gwadar New International Airport (NGIA) is located 26 kilometers east of Gwadar City, Baluchistan Province. It is one of the key projects under the framework of the “the Belt and Road” China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Gwadar New International Airport covers an area of about 18 square kilometers. The project includes the construction of airport airfield project (including the runway length of 3658 meters), terminal area project (including the terminal area of 14000 square meters), and the construction of corresponding hospitals, schools, family areas and other facilities. The airfield level is the highest level of 4F, which can take off and land Airbus 380, Boeing 747, Boeing 777 and other existing civil aviation passenger aircraft, and the apron is sufficient to park five Class C aircraft at the same time.
The design and construction of the new airport are in line with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (CIAO). It is the largest project with the largest amount of free foreign aid funds in China, with a total investment of nearly 300 million dollars.
In 2014, China Communications Construction Group (CCCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pakistan to build a new airport. According to the memorandum, both parties agreed that CCCC would be responsible for the financing and construction of Gwadar New International Airport. In January 2015, the Executive Committee of Pakistan National Economic Commission approved the construction plan of Gwadar Port International Airport contracted by CCCC.
On March 29, 2019, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, held a groundbreaking ceremony. The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Kamal Jawad Bajawa, and the then Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, as well as a large number of workers and government officials attended the event. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Imran Khan said that “Gwadar will become the engine of Pakistan’s growth”.
On November 2, 2019, the commencement ceremony of the new international airport project in Gwadar, Pakistan, was held in Pakistan. At the commencement ceremony, more than 100 people attended the commencement ceremony, including Kashani, President of Pakistan’s Gwadar Port Authority, Saddiq, Project Director of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, Lieutenant Colonel Majid, 440 Brigade of Pakistan’s military representative, the head of China and Gwadar Red Cross Society, and the head of China Overseas Port Holding Co., Ltd.
As the airport is close to Gwadar Port, the complex geological conditions and high temperature and high salt corrosion environment bring challenges to the construction. After more than one year of hard technical research, the project personnel have overcome the difficult problems such as foundation treatment.
In 2022, a number of important construction projects of the New Guadall International Airport were commenced successively, and progress was smooth.
In January 2023, after a year of construction, the steel structure installation of Gwadar New International Airport ended smoothly. It is expected that the test flight will be realized in March 2023, and the project will be completed in October.
After the completion of the new international airport in Gwadar, it will become a landmark building of modernization in Gwadar region, which has important strategic significance for the development of Gwadar city.
Gwadar International Airport will carry out experimental flight within 60 days