Skardu airport to handle international flights

KARACHI: In order to promote tourism, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is upgrading the Skardu airport in Gilgit-Baltistan to handle international flights, ARY News learnt on Friday

Sources relayed that the aviation regulator has called for the airport to be readied for international flight operations by June-July. Located at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, the Skardu airport is listed among the world’s highest altitude airports.

The CAA has issued directives for expansion of the airport in addition to preparing it for all-weather flight operations. The airport’s runway will be equipped with the modern CAT-I system in order for flights to land even in bad weather.

The Skardu airport’s main runway is 12,000-feet long while the second runway 8,500-feet long.

It is noteworthy that a CAA team had earlier conducted a survey to determine whether international flights can land at the airport and as a test flight, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus-320 landed at the airport.