The Industry
The aviation industry in Pakistan is dramatically growing. There is a remarkable increase in people travelling through air in Pakistan. According to statistics more than 20 million passengers travelled through air in Pakistan in 2017 versus 16 million in 2016. IATA reports compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% in passenger traffic growth which is twice the world projections for all other regions.
The bilateral open-skies policy of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Pakistan and the CPEC induced development of infrastructure has spurred the international airlines to operate through corridors of the national air space. The international passenger traffic crossed 12 million passengers in Pakistan versus 8 million in 2014 with a CAGR of 7.1%. The Indian and Brazilian domestic markets will grow at 6.9% and 5.4% respectively.
The Growth in air travel is pushing new airport upgrades and new construction in Islamabad, Multan, Sialkot and Gwadar. Islamabad ranks 2nd in Air Passenger Traffic.
There are seven new airlines which have requested for license to start their operations from CAA.
These include
- Liberty Air
- Go Green Airways
- Askari Air Pakistan
- United Airways Pakistan
- Air Sial
- Afeef Zara Airways
- Bhoja (under the new name)
There has been a significant growth in Cargo and Freight; 62.5 mT (2017) from 42 mT (2007 globally. Locally, the growth has been 3 times faster than the regional industry which has led to the erection of the largest and fully automated warehouse in Karachi Airport.