Govt announces to construct international airport in Skardu

SKARDU: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry, announced on Tuesday federal government has decided to construct a new international standard airport in Skardu in order to promote tourism and meet the requirements of international tourists, ARY News reported.

Taking to media here in Islamabad, the federal minister said has decided to construct a new all-weather international airport at Skardu while existing airports of Skardu and Gilgit are being upgraded to all-weather airports to promote tourism in the area.

“Prime minister has strictly directed to keep all airports linked with tourism operational through the year,” he further added.

Currently, there is a domestic civil airport in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan. Skardu airport has two asphalt runways, one 8,740 ft (2,664 m) long and the other 11,944 ft (3,641 m) long.

Skardu, along with Gilgit, are the major tourism, trekking and expedition hubs in Gilgit-Baltistan.

PIA is currently operating flights for Skardu from different cities of the country.

Last month, PIA had launched its Air Safari flights to boost tourism in the country. The airline’s first scenic Air Safari flight took off from the Islamabad International Airport with 91 tourists, including foreign nationals from as many as 13 countries, on board.