Gwadar International Airport should not be confused with New Gwadar International Airport.
| Gwadar International Airport | |
| Nativename-A: | (Urdu) (Balochi) |
| Iata: | GWD |
| Icao: | OPGD |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Pakistan |
| Operator: | Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority |
| City-Served: | Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan |
| Location: | Gwadar Port-91200 |
| Elevation-F: | 28 |
| Elevation-M: | 8.40 |
| Coordinates: | 25.2322°N 62.3272°W |
| Image Map Caption: | Location in Gwadar |
| Pushpin Map: | Balochistan Pakistan#Pakistan#Asia |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 280 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Gwadar |
| Pushpin Label: | GWD/OPGW |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 06/24 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2000 |
| R1-Length-F: | 6,500 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2017-18[1] |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 33,948 |
| Stat2-Header: | Passenger change |
| Stat2-Data: | 16.9% |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 828 15.9%Sources: AIP Pakistan[2] and DAFIF[3] |
Gwadar International Airport (Balochi: گوادر میان اُستمانی بالی پٹ, ur|{{Nastaliq|گوادر بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈا) is an international airport situated 14 km (9 miles) north of the city centre of Gwadar, in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. It was replaced by the New Gwadar International Airport in 2024.
The history of the airport dates back to 1958 when the Government of Pakistan bought Gwadar from Muscat’s Sultan.[4] Air operations started in 1966. The airport gained international status when two weekly flights from Karachi to Muscat via Gwadar were initiated with Fokker F-27 aircraft. The terminal building was inaugurated in 1984 and the airport was established as a domestic airport and considered to be the biggest airport of Balochistan which facilitates the passengers especially the people of Gwadar. The new departure/VIP lounges were opened in 2008.
The current airport caters mainly to the population of Gwadar. Pakistan International Airlines, the main airline flying out of the airport, connects Gwadar to Karachi, Turbat, Quetta, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City, Riyadh, Tehran, Mashhad, Bahrain and Muscat. Other airlines had recently launched their flights to Gwadar and currently had been doing pretty well due to successful performance. These included Oman Air, which flew to Muscat using ATR 42 aircraft, and airblue, which started twice daily flights to Karachi through its joint venture partner JS Air.
See main article: New Gwadar International Airport. The New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA) was built to replace the airport and was opened on 14 October 2024 in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.[6] Occupying 4,300 acres (17 km2) of land, it is located in Gurandani, 26 km north-east of the existing airport in Gwadar on the south-western Arabian Sea coast of Balochistan Province.[7] [8] [9]
It has a single runway with 3,658 metres of length and a width of 75 metres that will have the capacity to accommodate wide bodied aircraft. A taxiway of 23 metres length alongside a 10.5 metre paved shoulders for both sides. The airport will also have the capacity to build a second runway to the north of the first runway. An Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower, crash, fire and rescue facilities will be built as well as a fuel farm. It will be constructed at a cost of Rs55.4 billion.[10]