KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday renewed the licence for an airstrip in Balochistan to revive air connectivity with the Saindak project.

CAA Director General Khaqan Murtaza presented the licence for Juzzak Airstrip, located a few kilometres north of Taftan in Chagai district, to the chairman of Chinese firm M/s MCC Resource Development Limited, at a ceremony held at the authority’s headquarters here on Tuesday.

A CAA spokesperson said that the license for Juzzak Airstrip got expired in 2004 and the strip was abandoned for operational use.

The airstrip was built as a mud strip in the 1980s and was licensed by the CAA in 1996. “The purpose was to facilitate national, international workers travelling by small-sized chartered planes for the development of Saindak copper and gold mines in Balochistan,” he said.

Earlier this year, the CAA allowed the upgradation of the airstrip to make it operational for secure travel of local and foreign workers for further development of the project.

The MRDL asked the CAA to renew its licence on Aug 20 and within a short span of over a week the CAA’s directorate of aerodrome and airspace regulations undertook the inspection and completed all regulatory formalities in this regard, the spokesperson claimed.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2021