Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved expansion of Karachi and Lahore airports under their respective master plans, while directing officials to put passenger convenience and construction quality first.
The decision was announced after an October 29 meeting in Islamabad, according to Radio Pakistan’s report and The Express Tribune’s account. The projects concern Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.
What officials were directed to improve
Sharif called for the expansion projects to meet international standards and their prescribed timelines. The published announcement does not specify those completion dates or announce a new passenger-terminal opening.
His directions included third-party validation of expansion work and passenger-service reforms, regular staff training, better coordination between agencies at airports and improvements to catering. Internationally reputed organizations are to be engaged to help improve facilities.
Separate briefing on work already under way
The meeting was told that expansion of Karachi airport’s runway had been completed. That briefing is separate from the approval for development under the two airports’ master plans; it does not establish that every element of either airport’s expansion is finished.
Officials also reported work under way on automated border-management e-gates and an air cargo village for Karachi. The announcement does not provide a passenger launch date for the e-gates.
What travelers should check
For a journey through either airport, use the airline’s current flight, check-in and terminal instructions. This announcement sets out an infrastructure and service-improvement decision, without a dated passenger transition plan.
Find related reporting in Flyzeu’s Pakistan aviation news section.
Archive: Lahore airport apron, May 2007; not the newly approved expansion. Photo: Fast track · Wikimedia Commons · author’s worldwide public-domain dedication. Resized and compressed to WebP; public-domain status retained.
