Skardu Airport to be Made an International Airport

[Abbas Ali]

Skardu Airport will be made an international airport, said Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur today.

Currently, PIA is operating flights between Islamabad and Skardu with ATR 42-500 and Airbus A320 aircraft.

Abbas

[mianazeem]

First they should make sure the airport is accessible all year round and reduce the number of cancellations.

[raihans]

Can we expect Skardu will be getting foreign airlines or just PIA will be allowed to operate international flights in/out of Skardu for international destinations?

[fahadshakeel]

It's the much needed and thrilling initiative for tourism industry.

Initially it's nearly impossible that any foreign carrier will adopt this route because of no demand or trends. PIA will have to work hard and invest on this route. Not limited to Hajj / Umrah flights for regional pax but also; PIA must be the part of different travel forums and tourist associations to make Skardu as a part of planned destinations for tourists packages like BKK to KDU to DXB etc. This also demands some codeshares with international carriers who can sell this destination via PIA flights.

Middle east is also a good market to sell this destination considering weather situations. So I believe it will be DXB to KDU OR JED to KDU in the start.

The moment PIA would be able to sell this destination to tourists and engage healthy numbers; foreign airlines will start considering this route. It's not a short term plan but may take several years or a decade.

[TAILWIND]

Another fallacious project. Most of the adventure tourists visiting Skardu are from Europe. How airlines (both domestic/foreign) will operate flights to/from Europe plan to operate long haul flights from weather/TOW restricted flights from Skardu. Most it can be used is for Hajj flights, which if I am not wrong have a restriction on min capacity.

[TAILWIND]

Another fallacious project. Most of the adventure tourists visiting Skardu are from Europe. How airlines (both domestic/foreign) will operate flights to/from Europe from weather/TOW restricted flights from Skardu. Most it can be used is for Hajj flights, which if I am not wrong has a restriction on min capacity.

[uzkt01]

Another fallacious project. Most of the adventure tourists visiting Skardu are from Europe. How airlines (both domestic/foreign) will operate flights to/from Europe from weather/TOW restricted flights from Skardu. Most it can be used is for Hajj flights, which if I am not wrong has a restriction on min capacity.

Too early to say fallacious. Dubai is major transit hub for people coming to and from Europe and they would happily take a flight to KDU instead of flying to ISB and taking another flight plus there is also local demand for these gulf destinations.

[Abbas Ali]

Today, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur in a meeting with Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon said that steps are being taken to upgrade Skardu Airport to an international airport for the promotion of tourism and jobs creation in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Abbas