Pakistan has overhauled its plan to outsource the operations of its three busiest airports, moving away from a bilateral government-to-government framework to an open competitive bidding process and formally bringing Islamabad International Airport into the privatisation fold, according to Arab News.
The Privatisation Commission decided in November 2025 to abandon the government-to-government route in favour of open bidding after strong investor interest, the commission said in a statement reported by Arab News. The shift covers Islamabad International Airport alongside Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, The Nation reported.
The commission stressed that the change was not driven by politics or diplomacy. “This decision does not have any political or diplomatic background, and is based purely on economic and procedural reasons,” it said, adding that open bidding would create a “level playing field for domestic and international investors, including those from partner countries such as the UAE,” per Arab News.
The reset follows weeks of speculation that Islamabad had cancelled a lease arrangement with the United Arab Emirates. The Privatisation Commission “categorically dismissed” those claims, stating that “no such agreement or lease was ever signed for any of the airports, including Islamabad International Airport,” according to Arab News. It said it had held “constructive dialogue” with entities from the UAE, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, The Nation reported.
The government is weighing several models, “including management contracts and long-term commercial concessions,” with the stated aim of improving efficiency, enhancing passenger services, maximising revenue, upgrading infrastructure and attracting private investment, the Privatisation Ministry told Aviation Week. The bidding is to be open to “all domestic and foreign investors,” the same report said.
The pivot effectively reopens a process that had stalled. In an earlier attempt to outsource Islamabad’s operations, a three-party Turkish consortium — comprising Terminal Yapi, ERG Insaat and ERG UK — emerged as the sole bidder, offering to pay the government 47 per cent of operating revenue as a concession fee, short of the 56 per cent minimum set by authorities, Arab News reported. Sadiq ur Rehman, chairman of the bid evaluation committee and deputy director general of the Pakistan Airports Authority, said at the time that “the details of the financial proposal will be presented and forwarded to the IFC for further evaluation,” according to Arab News.
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, has been advising Islamabad on the outsourcing and was tasked with evaluating the below-threshold offer before any decision, Arab News reported. That single-bidder outcome — and the gap between the offer and the government’s reserve price — is widely seen as a key reason for the switch to open, competitive bidding.
The airport sales sit within a broader push to raise revenue under Pakistan’s IMF programme, with the country pursuing privatisation to shore up its finances, per Arab News. The Privatisation Ministry says the competitive process will prioritise “transparency, inclusivity, and fair competition” to secure “optimal economic outcomes,” The Nation reported.
Officials have signalled that Islamabad will lead the rollout, with Karachi and Lahore to follow, Aviation Week reported. For now, the government has yet to publish a bid timetable, leaving the size of the eventual concession, its duration and the winning operator still to be determined.
