China, explained.
New Gwadar International Airport, Pakistan, 14 September 2024 (Ahmad Kamal/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Flight to nowhere: The curious New Gwadar International Airport
A Chinese-funded white elephant relies on hope rather than reality.
China, explained.
New Gwadar International Airport, Pakistan, 14 September 2024 (Ahmad Kamal/Xinhua via Getty Images)
A Chinese-funded white elephant relies on hope rather than reality.
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Flight to nowhere: The curious New Gwadar International AirportFlight to nowhere: The curious New Gwadar International Airport
As the small plane approached the runway, the banners had already started to wave in celebration. The aircraft, an ATR 42-500, had just 50 seats – not the usual jumbo expected at an international airport – and was mostly carrying government officials. As it taxied to the terminal, twin spouts from a pair of waiting fire engines blasted a water salute. This was the first ever commercial aircraft to land at Pakistan’s New Gwadar International Airport, which regrettably looks likely to be a white elephant.
The flight last month marked the latest development in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, a $50+ billion investment in Pakistan as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative. NGIA is situated approximately 45 kilometres from the Chinese-operated Gwadar Port and spans 4300 acres, making it the country’s largest airport by area. It was built with a $246 million Chinese grant, and can accommodate large aeroplanes such as the Airbus A380.
Despite the huge investment, the airport lacks significant passenger demand. Only three flights a week operated to Gwadar’s old airport, and these will now transition to NGIA. Gwadar, which was hoped would become the Singapore of Pakistan, has failed to kick off, resulting in little demand for air travel into the city. In November, Pakistani government officials revealed that NGIA lacks a viable commercial plan and would not be sustainable until Gwadar Port is fully developed.
NGIA is one of the largest Chinese-funded projects in Pakistan, so why is it failing?
Pakistan has failed to build the required infrastructure to make Gwadar successful. Ten years after the inception of CPEC, there is still not a stable source of power for the city.
The first reason is that CPEC was oversold in Pakistan as a “game changer”. The expected economic gains from CPEC were exaggerated by Pakistani officials in 2015 for political mileage. Based on those exaggerated expectations, NGIA was built to cater to huge air traffic demand. Now even Chinese officials admit that CPEC was oversold in Pakistan.
The second reason for the failure of NGIA is the internal security problems of Pakistan. Gwadar is located in the Balochistan province, which has been marred by a separatist conflict for the last two decades. The grievances of the people of Balochistan stem from a lack of control over their resources. Gwadar is considered a huge resource of Balochistan, and handing a level of control to China has further exacerbated the situation, resulting in an increased number of attacks on Chinese interests in the region. Those attacks have prevented any new commercial activity in Gwadar, which is required for the success of NGIA.
Moreover, Pakistan has failed to build the required infrastructure to make Gwadar successful. Ten years after the inception of CPEC, there is still not a stable source of power for the city. A 300-MW power plant to be built by the Chinese is still awaiting approval from the government. Reliable road and rail links connecting Gwadar with the rest of the country are still missing. All of these compound the failure of Gwadar city as a commercial hub.
The story of NGIA is not dissimilar to that of Hambantota Airport, a Chinese-built white elephant in Sri Lanka. However, government officials in Pakistan are not ready to accept this reality, at least not publicly. They continue to spin the narrative that Gwadar will come alive within a few years and NGIA will operate at full capacity. Yet there is no basis for such optimism. Surely, in a case like this, hope is not a strategy.
About the author
Adnan Aamir
Adnan Aamir is a journalist, researcher, and commentator based in Islamabad, Pakistan.
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