The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday has allowed the outsourcing of the management of country’s three major airports on the model of the public-private partnership model. Among other things on the agenda, enhancing cooperation and agreements between Pakistan and other countries related to aviation, defence, interior, health, law and order and others were also discussed.
Addressing the media in the cabinet meeting, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said that this policy was approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2015. She further stated that the management of the airports will be outsourced to the private entities. In this regard, the policy change will be applicable to Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad airports initially.
The state minister further clarified that the policy change will allow the roles of operation, management and maintenance to be separate from the regulator. She further informed that globally airports are regulated by organisations with the likes of CAA while they are managed by the private entities.
She further said that there are different models of public-private partnerships. Not only is management and maintenance been outsourced but if a private company plans to build a new airport, their plans shall be fully accommodated. She stressed on the distinction of the regulator and service provider.
Moreover, she revealed that a plan in this regard still needs to be devised and signed by the private sector. Once an agreement is reached with the private sector, the announcement will follow.
