ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is moving ahead with a proposed 1,800-acre airport in Gilgit, additional aircraft for private airlines and a push for smaller regional planes, according to a Senate Standing Committee on Defence briefing.
The three developments, described separately in the briefing, point to a broader effort to expand air connectivity beyond Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, the cities that have long dominated Pakistan's aviation network.
New Gilgit Airport Is Bigger Than It Sounds
Officials briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Defence that day. A greenfield airport in Gilgit is now moving deeper into planning roughly 1,800 acres, with its feasibility study at an advanced stage. No final site yet. That part's still open.
But 1,800 acres isn't a small number for a mountain airport. It's not a runway patch-up. It's infrastructure sized for growth, and that distinction matters more than the announcement itself.
Northern Pakistan has always presented difficult operating conditions. Mountainous terrain, unpredictable weather and specialised flying requirements make destinations such as Gilgit and Chitral unusually demanding. PIA currently has two ATR aircraft operating for Gilgit, according to the committee briefing. The existing airport has its own limits too.
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So officials aren't waiting around for the greenfield project to materialize. The runway and lighting systems at the current Gilgit Airport have already been upgraded done, not promised which could let other carriers start service there long before construction on the new airport even begins. Fix today's airport. Build tomorrow's. Two tracks, running at once.
Private Airlines Are Buying Planes — Just Not Enough of Them
The second piece belongs to the airlines. The Defence Ministry told lawmakers something blunt: technical faults and aircraft shortages cause delays, and losing even a single jet can throw an entire airline's schedule into chaos.
Carriers are responding. AirSial, Airblue and others have moved to acquire more aircraft, with additional fleet inductions expected by December 2026. Airblue has already added three to four aircraft to its fleet, according to the briefing.
Good news, but only partly. More narrow-body jets don't automatically fix a connectivity problem rooted in thin, weather-sensitive routes.
The Real Story Might Be the Smallest Planes
Here's what almost got buried in the briefing: authorities want airlines flying smaller ATR and Embraer aircraft on regional routes.
The logic is straightforward. Smaller aircraft can offer airlines another way to serve thinner regional markets where consistently filling larger narrow-body jets may prove difficult. More frequencies aboard smaller aircraft could also make regional connectivity more practical without requiring A320-sized demand on every flight.
None of this is brand new, either. Back in June, the same Senate committee pushed for stronger air links to Gilgit, Chitral and Quetta and called for mandatory operations on socioeconomic routes to be reinforced through airline licensing conditions. September's briefing takes that conversation further by putting smaller regional aircraft directly into the equation.
Beyond Gilgit: Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Balochistan
Gilgit isn't carrying this alone. Peshawar Airport needs a full renovation and a new terminal, officials said so plainly. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi went further still, demanding Dera Ismail Khan Airport's restoration and the return of commercial flights there, plus a fresh look at domestic routes running through Peshawar.
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Balochistan is moving too, quieter than the rest. Flight frequencies to the province's airports have gone up. Several now have night-flight capability. A fuller briefing on that progress is still coming, officials told the committee.
Three Pieces. Zero Guarantees.
Nothing here is locked in. No final Gilgit site. No construction cost. No financing plan, no completion date, no confirmed airlines. The private sector's December fleet numbers remain vague too "additional aircraft," not exact counts.
But look at the shape of it: a 1,800-acre airport for infrastructure, growing private fleets for capacity, smaller planes for route economics. Each piece is modest on its own. Stacked together, they're the most coordinated push Pakistan's aviation sector has made in years to reach past Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
Whether Gilgit actually gets its airport. Whether airlines respond to the push for smaller regional aircraft. Whether private carriers deliver the additional fleet capacity expected by December. Those three answers will decide whether this becomes Pakistan's next real aviation expansion or another ambitious plan that never fully leaves the briefing room.