CAA scales down DI Khan airport

[Abbas Ali]

By Imran Ayub

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has scaled down Dera Ismail Khan Airport in a move believed to reduce cost, after it became idle following suspension of flight operations by the national flag carrier on lower returns.

Sources close to aviation developments said the CAA had formally sent a letter to the ministry of defence regarding the latest decision, which was effective since the first week of November 2006.

“The CAA decision is effective since November 1, 2006,” said a source privy to the move and the letter to the ministry of defence. “Scaling down doesn’t mean closure of the airport but the term is attributed to a move to cut the operational cost of the airport, which has been lying unutilised for the last several months.”

He said that Dera Ismail Khan airport was not hosting any flight for the last several months and the situation pushed the authorities concerned to take the initiative.

The aviation regulator, which once possessed more than 40 airports across the country, now operates 28 facilities, as some 14 such sites have been closed or scaled down on different grounds during the last few years.

The authority, which plans modernisation of a few airports of the country and eying new facility in the port city of Gwadar, however, believes scaling down Dera Ismail Khan Airport would help it cap operational cost to some extent.

“The move would not hurt the airport ground facility, as the services can be resumed whenever it is needed,” said the source. “If any airline plans a regular operation to and fro Dera Ismail Khan the airport could be utilised with immediate effect. The scaling down simply means that the facility is not in use but ready for the service just to cut the operational expenses.”

He said the move would not affect the ongoing projects of the airport building and modernisation initiated by the CAA, as those were different kind of issue, which had nothing to do with the latest move.

The CAA high ups earlier this year gave a presentation to President General Pervez Musharraf elaborating development projects in the aviation. The presentation revealed that Multan Airport would be modernised at a cost of Rs2.5 billion while construction of the new Islamabad airport would begin by the end of the year.

It also claimed that new airports at Islamabad and Gwadar would have state-of-the-art facilities, with a focus on port operations-related provision in the airport.

The source said though the Dera Ismail Khan Airport was not receiving any flight, scaling down of the facility would not remove all the CAA personnel from their current positions as more than 20 members of the authority would remain there for proper and regular maintenance work of the airport.

“Currently, more than 40 CAA staffers are there at Dera Ismail Khan Airport,” the source added. “The latest development would bring down the number probably 24-25 to maintain the airport.”

Source: The News