SIALKOT, Dec 11: The construction work on the passenger terminal of the Sialkot international airport will be started next week which will be completed from 12 to 18 months.

The building plan of the terminal has been finalized by the NESPAK and Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) while airport's interior decoration planning is also being finalized.

This was stated by SIAL chairman Mian Muhammad Riaz while talking to newsmen here on Thursday.

He said the construction work of the airport was briskly under way and the first cargo flight would be commenced from this airport in August 2005.

Mr Riaz said the SIAL had signed an agreement with an Australian company 'Inter-scan' for providing travelling facilities guidance and installing air traffic control at the airport.

Meanwhile, FIA's Lahore airport immigration assistant director Shaikh Riazuddin and other FIA officials on Saturday visited the site of the under-construction airport.

They held a meeting with SIAL officials and discussed the matter regarding the immediate establishment of FIA offices at the Sialkot airport.