UAE loses interest in outsourcing of Islamabad Airport
The federal government has decided
to abandon plans to outsource the management and operations of Islamabad International Airport to
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the Gulf country lost interest in the
project.
Sources reported that the stalled
negotiations arose when the UAE failed to nominate any agency for the
outsourcing process, despite repeated reminders from Pakistan. Following this,
the Pakistani government approved the inclusion of Islamabad International
Airport in the active privatization list, building on the recent success of Pakistan
International Airlines (PIA) privatization.
Read More Pakistan to hand over Islamabad Airport operations to UAE
Although the UAE initially expressed interest, it did not designate an entity to move the project forward. Pakistani officials sent a final reminder, but the UAE responded that it could not nominate an agency and was no longer interested in the initiative.
Earlier, Pakistan had also rejected
UAE requests to include Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and Lahore’s
Allama Iqbal International Airport in a proposed Government-to-Government (G2G)
framework. Similarly, Pakistan did not support the UAE’s proposal to privatize
air links between Abu Dhabi and Pakistan.
The decision reflects Pakistan’s
focus on domestic privatization strategies and underscores the country’s
intention to maintain control over strategic airport operations.
Source: Pakistan Observer