ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has taken a key step toward privatising Islamabad International Airport, forming a high-level negotiation team to work with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on a financial advisory deal that could shape one of the country’s biggest infrastructure transactions in years.
The Privatisation Commission Board on Wednesday, chaired by Muhammad Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Privatization, set up a Negotiation Committee to discuss the terms of a proposed Financial Advisory Services Agreement (FASA) with ADB. The committee will handle talks and submit recommendations to the board before any final approval.
The move follows an earlier board decision to pursue direct negotiations with ADB under the Privatisation Commission (Hiring of Financial Adviser) Regulations, 2018.
The plan is a long-term concession-based model, under which airport operations would be outsourced through an open and competitive bidding process. The government aims to bring in a private operator to improve efficiency, raise service standards and maximise value for the state, rather than selling the asset outright.
Islamabad airport was added to Pakistan’s active privatisation list last year, ending months of stalled talks with the United Arab Emirates, where the original plan was a government-to-government handover. That approach was later scrapped in favor of open bidding. The shift aligns Islamabad with Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, both of which are already in the privatisation pipeline. Together, the three facilities handle the bulk of Pakistan’s international air traffic and are seen as prime candidates for private management.
