1 day ago
5
Gwadar International Airport can serve up to 1 mn passengers annually but remains desolate today (Image: WikiCommons)
Gwadar International Airport is the largest airport in Pakistan by area, occupying 4,300 acres of land. The airport was intended to be a game-changing piece of infrastructure but remains a "white elephant" today. Gwadar International was hoped to be a global gateway with a 12,000 feet of runway, a brand new terminal - enough room for the world’s biggest aircraft.
Currently, however, the airport is more like a ghost town with no passengers and “no flights but rather just a shiny terminal sitting in the middle of nowhere”. The popular Youtube channel Civil Mentors further looked at Gwadar International and why despite spending over £170 million ($230m) it remains so desolate.
Gwadar International Airport is the largest airport in Pakistan occupying 4,300 acres of land (Image: Getty)
Civil Mentors added: “The airport's idea was simple: build a high-capacity airport next to a strategic deep sea port and then use both to fuel a wave of investments, tourism and trade.
“On paper, Gwadar was built to rival Karachi and Lahore with construction beginning in 2019, with its official inauguration being in 2024."
Most of the funding for Gwadar came through China, through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, otherwise known as CPEC, a large-scale investment and infrastructure initiative between the two countries.
“China’s western provinces are landlocked and far from the country's main shipping ports and with most of China’s trade moving by sea, it's a long route totalling roughly 7456 miles in some cases.”
The site further explained how China was looking for a direct route through Pakistan which would help simplify trade, allowing for Chinese goods to be transported over land, and thus Gwadar International came to fruition.
Security concerns, financing delays and the surrounding area has led to airport's downfall (Image: Getty)
Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
The main aim of CPEC was to connect Pakistan ports such as Gwadar with China's Xinjiang region and is a key component of China’s broader Belt and Road Initiative, looking to facilitate trade and economic cooperation.
“CPEC came with big promises and was supposed to bring investment jobs and long-term growth but nearly a decade later, much of that still hasn’t happened.”
The reason? Security concerns, land disputes and financing delays have all contributed to many projects stalling.
“This has left the airport in limbo despite being built and functional but without the rest of the system running, it doesn’t have a purpose yet.
“In terms of infrastructure, Gwadar ticks every box as its built to international standards and designed to handle up to one million passengers annually but airports aren’t built to impress engineers, they’re built to move people and that’s where the problems begin.”
The real issue for Gwadar is not the airport itself but rather the surrounding area with a low amount of nearby residents who don’t often fly regularly.
Other problems include not having enough nearby hotels with almost nonexistent public transport in the area too.
Gwadar also suffers from safety issues and has a limited number of shopping retailers and restaurants too, all adding to the airport’s “white elephant” existence with no clear return of investments, yet.
“Some argue that infrastructure always comes first - you don’t wait for demand and then start building therefore you build early and then you wait with some believing eventually the airport will support trade, tourism and investment”.
English (US) · 