The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has extended the tender date by two months after not receiving suitable bids for awarding the Islamabad International Airport outsourcing contract.
According to the 24News HD TV channel, the bid date for the outsourcing of Islamabad International Airport has been extended to May 15, 2024 after an extension of two months.
The CAA on Thursday sought new tenders from the national and international companies interested in taking Islamabad Airport on contract. The Authority has also issued a new order to extend the date of tender.
Under the privatization policy, the government is going to outsourcing Islamabad International Airport in the first phase and it has planned to collect billions of funds through outsourcing of Karachi and Lahore airports in next phases.

Plan of outsourcing Islamabad Airport

During the last caretaker government's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar took the initiative to outsource the Islamabad Airport. He presided over a meeting of the Cabinet‘s Economic Coordination Committee on August 09, 2023 and approved the outsourcing agreement of Islamabad International Airport and the SME easy finance scheme.
The caretaker finance minister also chaired a seperate meeting of the steering committee to oversee and guide the progress of work related to outsourcing airports’ operations.
Dar praised the efforts and contribution of all the members of the committee to make the plan of outsourcing possible.
Caretaker Minister for Aviation and Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, Secretary Aviation, Chief Executive Officer Public Partnership Authority, Director General Pakistan Civil Association Authority, International Finance Corporation team and other government officials attended the meeting.

CAA employees protest outsourcing of airports

Reacting over the caretaker government's decision, the employees of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) protested against outsourcing of the country’s airports at Islamabad airport.
Carrying banners in their hands and wearing black armbands, the employees raised slogans against the caretaker government and the CAA high-ups.
They said they were determined not to allow outsourcing of airports at any cost.

Reporter: Tayyab Saif