LAHORE, Sept 12: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has requested of the commerce ministry that it should provide Rs300 million for constructing a cargo complex at the new Allama Iqbal International Airport here within a year.

This was stated by CAA director-general Air Marshal Aliuddin at a briefing in the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. The new terminal’s project director, Brig Tauseefuz Zaman, CAA director (commercial) Brig Zafar Mahmood and airport director Zahiruddin were also present on the occasion.

Air Marshal Ali said the CAA could build the cargo village itself if the commerce ministry did not provide the funds. The existing airport cargo would remain in use for the time being, he added.

He said the construction of a cargo village had not been included in the PC-1 of the new terminal because it was usually carried out by the stakeholders. He said a consortium had earlier decided to construct the cargo village but recently abandoned the plan.

He said the new terminal had a large space set aside for the cargo village.

He said cargo flights of various airlines were willing to land in Pakistan due to fuel availability at lowest rates in the region.

He said a Jumbo could save $4,000 to $6,000 if it got its tank filled at Karachi airport. He said many planes had been coming to Karachi to get fuel before 9/11.

Mr Ali urged upon businessmen to send their cargo goods in large packets. He said over 80 per cent of cargo goods were being exported currently in small packets and to multiple destinations. He said the practice created problems for airlines.

He said the government was pursuing an open-sky policy to encourage more and more airlines to come to Karachi and Lahore airports. He said other airports in the country could not cater to international flights due to their small size and shortage of infrastructure.

Mr Ali said the CAA was also giving many more incentives, lowering its rates and offering a one-window operation to bring more and more airlines to the country.

However, he said, the international airlines’ main concern was security. He said there was a dire need to change the perception about Pakistan to bring business back to the country.

He said odd flights would start using the new terminal in the first week of November to check out the newly installed systems, before full-fledged operations begin at the airport in December.

Responding to LCCI president’s suggestions, Mr Aliuddin said the CAA would ask the government to convince the embassies of different countries including the UK and US to continue giving visas to businessmen for business trips.

He also asked the LCCI to send the names of its members to the Export Promotion Bureau for onward submission to the commerce ministry and consequently to the defence ministry for issuance of VIP passes usable at airports.

Mr Aliuddin also briefed the businessmen about the new airport and asked them to make bids for setting up their business outlets inside and outside the terminal building that would cater to over 10 million passengers and visitors in a year. He said commercialization would be transparent and based strictly on merit.

Earlier, LCCI president Dr Khalid Javed Chaudhry spoke about different concerns of the business community including the pitiable condition of the existing cargo sheds, limited road access to the sheds, traffic congestion and a lack of cold-storage facility for perishable items like fruits and vegetables.