Sardar Mahtab dissatisfied with renovation work pace at airport

PESHAWAR: Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction at the pace of work on renovation and expansion of Bacha Khan International Airport and directed Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to complete the project within the stipulated period.

Speaking to newsmen during his visit to the airport, he said in categorical terms that no delay in completion of the airport expansion project would be tolerated.

The adviser directed the authorities to fully ensure the use of standard quality construction material in the project.

Secretary Aviation, Irfan Elahi, CAA Director General, Air Marshal (Retd) Asim Suleman, and other officials accompanied Sardar Mahtab during the visit, said an official communiqué.

The advisor said the airport had importance due to its geographical location. “Being a provincial

metropolis of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the city’s airport also serves as centre of air travel for millions of passengers of Federally Administered Tribal Areas,” he added.

Sardar Mahtab pointed out that the role of Peshawar city and its airport was of great importance in the context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. For this purpose, he said, the government wanted to make it a state-of-the-art international airport of the country.

The adviser said it was imperative to provide proper facilities to the passengers at airport and for this purpose government had launched the project for renovation

and expansion which would be completed in November, this year.

He said under the project a multi-storey car parking would be constructed at a cost of Rs1.5 billion.

The parking, to be completed in a period of nine months, will have the capacity of accommodation of 900 cars, he added.

The new domestic lounge will become operational next month that would accommodate 350 passengers. The new international lounge would accommodate 1000 passengers.

Earlier, he visited different sections of airport and inspected pace and quality of construction work. He also inspected facilities provided to passengers at international and domestic lounges.

Sardar Mahtab expressed displeasure over cleanliness condition at the airport.

He directed the quarters concerned to ensure complete cleanliness amid continuation of construction work.