A $246m New Gwadar International Airport over 4,300 acres would be operational by September 2023 for local and international flights.

According to an official source, the development of the airport was at different stages as the passenger terminal building of the project would be completed by June 2023; work related to air traffic control by March 2023, while the overall construction of the airport would be finished before September 2023.

The New Gwadar International Airport will be operated by the Civil Aviation Authority and is owned by a tripartite venture between Pakistan, Oman, and China that would handle domestic and international operations.

The airport is a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) of China’s One Belt One Road initiative. The NGIA would become Pakistan’s second airport capable of handling A380 aircraft upon its commissioning in 2022.

The New Gwadar International Airport project was initiated as an early harvest high-priority project of the CPEC program in 2014. The Executive Committee approved the project of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2015 and it is being funded through a grant agreement signed between China and Pakistan in May 2017.

Soil testing started in January 2018 and involved drilling of 300 boreholes at various locations. The groundbreaking of the airport was held in March 2019.