Skardu Airport to welcome international flights

Pakistan’s hot tourist spot, Skardu is all set to welcome international tourists as the airport gears up to welcome international flights starting next month.

According to the aviation minister, the Skardu airport is getting revamped to boost tourism in the region.

These new measures are part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative to boost tourism and economic growth in the country. The initiative will support all-weather and nighttime flights as well allowing aircraft to make low visibility takeoff and landings as the weather keeps getting unstable in the region. Located at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, Skardu airport is listed among the world’s highest altitude airports.

In the past months, Skardu and Gilgit emerged to be the busiest airports in the country with a packed domestic flights schedule from all major cities of Pakistan as record-breaking figures of tourists flocked the northern region which is also home to the world’s highest peak K2.

The government of Pakistan will soon issue an official notification declaring the Skardu airport as an international airport as well. The airport’s runway was getting expanded for wide-body aircraft landings. Meanwhile, the aviation minister also added that the government is exploring options to make a new airport in the Gilgit region.

GB’s tourism minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan also confirmed that the Skardu airport was being upgraded to offer better and improved services to welcome international and more domestic flights. He added that the government was in touch with the concerned authorities to begin the international flight operations to the earliest. He also extended full support to local airlines to begin their flight operations to the region soon.

A new private airline has also emerged as North Air which will be given the license to operate in the region. It will initially operate flights to and from Islamabad, Skardu, Chitral, Gilgit, and Gwadar, covering all the major tourist attractions. The airline also commits to enhancing the air connectivity to drive more tourists and economic growth in the heavenly GB region which already attracts around 2 million tourists each year.