“The main features of the aviation policy include permission to private parties to build and operate airports and construction of hotels, shopping malls and other facilities in the vicinity of airports,” he said while speaking to the launching ceremony of Electronic Manifest Filing & Deconsolidation System by Customs at Karachi Airport on Tuesday.

Rehmatullah said the CAA had planned to connect the small cities and rural areas to rest of the country and the world through airports. “For that we are going to allow private parties to build airports and operate them,” he said.

The DG added that the Authority was also going to allow private parties to construct helipads and operate helicopters.

“Right now we don’t have hotels where foreign airlines’ crew could stay. We also lack other facilities that we are now going to build to attract foreign airlines,” he said.

“We are going to build airport cities in Karachi and Lahore at a cost of $4.5 billion, which will have hotels as well as recreational facilities, all with our own resources.”

He said an airport in Islamabad was to be designed by world-renowned CPG. Rehmatullah said complexes were to be built in Karachi and Multan exclusively for handling and storage of cargo. In Karachi the 1,000 unutilised land of Karachi Airport would be utilised for this purpose. He said these complexes would also have refrigeration facilities.

The DG said they were now aiming to capture 10 per cent share of country’s total external trade from current 0.5 per cent only by providing more facilities to importers and exporters.

He said 50 per cent revenue should come from commercial and the rest from aeronautical. A very little percentage of revenue now comes from commercial sector, he said.