In 1958, the town of Gwadar was purchased by Government of Pakistan from the Sultan of Muscat. Air operations started in 1966. The airport gained international status when two weekly flights from Karachi to Muscat via Gwadar were initiated. The terminal building was inaugurated in 1984 and new departure/VIP lounges opened in 2008. The current airport caters mainly to the population of Gwadar. Pakistan International Airlines, the main airline flying out of the airport, connects Gwadar to Karachi, Turbat, Quetta, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait City, Riyadh, Tehran, Mashhad, Bahrain and Muscat. Other airlines had recently launched their flights to Gwadar and currently had been doing pretty well due to successful performance. These included Oman Air, which flew to Muscat using ATR 42 aircraft, and Airblue, which started twice daily flights to Karachi through its joint venture partner JS Air.
Structure
Apron
*Four narrow body aircraft can park at the apron at one time. Every type of jet can land here.
Lounges
*One domestic and one International lounge.
*One CIP/VIP lounge for premium and executive passengers.
Additional
*Fire services, NDB, standby generators are available.
*24-hour priority notice for unexpected arrival into the airport.
Airlines and destinations
New Gwadar International Airport Construction
A New Gwardar International Airport is being built and will be country's biggest when completed in 2022. Occupying 4,300 acres of land, it is located in Gurandani, 26km north-east of the existing airport in Gwadar City on the south-western Arabian Sea coast of Balochistan region. NGIA is expected to cost $246 million. It is fully funded by China as a grant. PM Imran Khan had laid down the foundation stone for NGIA on 29 March 2019. This greenfield airport will include a modern terminal building alongside a cargo terminal with an initial handling capacity of 30,000 tonnes a year. NGIA will have the capacity to accommodate aircraft wide body aircraft including Airbus A380 & Boeing 747 and including narrow body aircraft such as ATR-72 & Boeing B 737. It will have a single runway with 3,658 metres of length and a width of 75 metres that will have the capacity to accommodate wide bodied aircraft. A taxiway of 23 metres length alongside a 10.5 metre paved shoulders for both sides. The airport will also have the capacity to build the second runway in the north direction of the first runway. An Air Traffic Control Tower, crash, fire and rescue facilities will be built as well as a fuel farm. The CAA Pakistan had awarded the design to build contract of the new airport to the China Communications Construction Company, which is expected to be completed in 2022.
