Dalbandin Airport made operative

[Abbas Ali]

By Masood Anwar

KARACHI:In a bid to improve the security measures for Chinese technical staff working on the Saindak project, President General Pervez Musharraf has issued orders for making the Dalbandin Airport operational.

In response to the directive, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has made the airport functional within five days. The airport had been closed since 1990 when the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended its operation on the plea of heavy losses.

However, the PIA management has made all arrangements to take off again for Dalbandin from Karachi twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday. The first flight for Dalbandin will take off from Karachi on March 4.

This flight was earlier scheduled for March 1, but the PIA management informed the CAA on February 28 that the airline will operate from March 4.

On receiving the orders of the President, the CAA management has done the job in the shortest possible time. It deployed the manpower without giving them time for the joining, installed the communication system within no time and sent the necessary equipment from Karachi including vehicles required on apron and fire tenders.

Now, the Dalbandin Airport is properly working under the supervision of an airport manager and Air Traffic Controllers are also available there to operate the flights, high-placed sources in the CAA told The News.

It is not necessary that Chinese will use the PIA aircraft only. They could also use the chartered flights, they said. The important thing is to make operative the airport, they added.

The President issued the orders after three Chinese engineers were killed in firing at Hub recently. Moreover, deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan has raised questions about the safety of Chinese engineers and other workers. Now, the federal government has upgraded the security measures for the Chinese.

Source: The News