MIRPUR – In its efforts to facilitate overseas Pakistanis and connect with global destinations, Pakistan has started feasibility stud for another international airport in the country.
The feasibility study is being conducted by the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) government for establishing an international airport in Mirpur city located in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK).
The city is important considering a significant population of over a million UK-based Kashmiri expatriates who have repeatedly called for the establishment of the airport.
AJK Minister for Physical Planning, Yasir Sultan Chaudhry confirmed the development and added that the project aims to fulfill a long-standing local demand and enhance connectivity for the city’s residents.
It bears mentioning that though the demand for an international airport in Mirpur has been made consistently over a period of time, it has gained traction recently.
In his statements in January this year, President AJK, Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry also confirmed that three major projects including construction of an international airport at Mirpur was among his priorities.
The demand for an airport is being made from international lawmakers as well. In this regard, a group of 20 British lawmakers have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling for an airport to be opened in Mirpur.
The group that has sent the letter is headed by Labour MP Tahir Ali, and it highlights that there are over a million British Kashmiris living in the UK, many of whom have raised concerns to their local MPs about travel times from the UK to Kashmir.At present, those who travel to Mirpur have to land at the Islamabad International Airport which sits over 120 kilometers away from the city.
The efforts to construct airport in Mirpur come amid Pakistan’s ongoing negotiations with British regulators for resumption of direct flights from Pakistan. The country’s national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) used to operate direct flights to the UK; however, in the aftermath of a plane crash and concerns regarding pilot’s licenses, the UK had imposed a ban on PIA.
