Bacha Khan International Airport

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Bacha Khan International Airport

Pakistan Airports Authority logo.png
باچا خان بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈا
باچا خان نړیوال هوايي ډګر
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner Arms of Pakistan.svg   GoP Aviation Division
Operator Pakistan Airports Authority
Serves Peshawar-24820
Location Peshawar District, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Pakistan
Opened1927;98 years ago (1927)
Elevation  AMSL 1,211 ft / 369 m
Coordinates 33°59′38″N71°30′52″E / 33.99389°N 71.51444°E / 33.99389; 71.51444
Website www.peshawarairport.com.pk
Maps
Bacha Khan International Airport
Location in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
OPPS
Location of airport in Pakistan
Pakistan location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
OPPS
OPPS (Pakistan)
South Asia non political, with rivers.jpg
Airplane silhouette.svg
OPPS
OPPS (South Asia)
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
ftm
17/359,0002,743 Bitumen
Statistics (2023-2024 [1] )
Passengers1,269,120
Aircraft movements7,563
Cargo handled10,941 t (24,121,000 lb)
Sources: PAA AIP [2]

Bacha Khan International Airport( IATA : PEW, ICAO : OPPS), formerly known as Peshawar International Airport, is an international airport located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the southwestern end of the city of Peshawar, it is the fourth-busiest airport in Pakistan.

Contents

One of the main runways of the airport is crossed by a railway line known as the Khyber train safari, which runs to the town of Landi Kotal in the Khyber Pass for the express purpose of tourism. The airport was renamed on 27 January 2012 after Abdul Ghaffar Khan (nicknamed Bacha Khan), leader of the Khudai Khidmatgar and a prominent Pashtun nationalist figure. [3] [4] The airport was extensively reconstructed from 2016 to 2018.

History

Strategically situated in the heart of Peshawar, Bacha Khan International Airport is located approximately 180 km from Islamabad (federal capital of Pakistan) which makes it about a two-hour drive from the capital via M-1 motorway. Since Peshawar is the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, it provides world connections for the majority of the northwest region of the country and adjoining areas of Afghanistan. Since the province has a large Afghan Pashtun community residing within KPK, Afghanistan flights have always been on the rise.

The airport traces its origins to 1927 when there was a small airfield that catered to much of the British Empire and Imperial Airways aircraft that were either travelling onwards to the east (e.g. to China and Malaysia/Singapore) or west (e.g. Europe and America). For this reason the city was given the nickname "Gateway to the East" because it linked the traditional oriental culture to modern occidental traditions.

The airport gained importance after the independence of Pakistan from the British Raj; the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) and the Pakistan Air Force started to use the airfield jointly for both military and civil operations. There were countless flights operated to and from Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, as well as other cities within the newly formed state.

The airport achieved international status in 1965 when the first flight was operated from Kabul, Afghanistan to Peshawar. The flight was operated by the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). As years went on the airport grew with more flights and aircraft and relative upgrade was carried out from time to time. It was not until 1981 that the CAA extended the terminal to meet future needs for the next decade and to meet the estimated growth of passengers. The apron was developed fully by 1986, where the airport was able to handle four widebody aircraft and two small narrow body aircraft at one time.

PIA commenced service to Birmingham in July 2004. [5] In January 2008 the provincial government met to discuss the expansion work needed to upgrade the quality of the aircraft in terms of facilities, terminal modernisation and cargo growth. [6] In June 2008 the Deputy Director General of the CAA, Air Vice Marshal Sajid Habib, said that five billion rupees have been allocated to expand and develop Peshawar airport. Details of the work performed are ambiguous. [7]

Structure

Peshawar is a major passenger hub with 75% flights internationally bound. The airport is currently under evaluation to be upgraded. The CAA is currently working with the provincial government to develop the airport to meet international standards. The airport has some facilities to handle the basic needs of travellers, such as telephone booths (domestic/international), currency exchange, automatic teller machines (ATMs), Internet stations (powered by Wateen), information counters, gifts and souvenir shops, snack shops, rental car services, and a post office.

The runway is 9,000 feet (2,700 m) long, 150 feet (46 m) wide with 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) shoulders on either side corresponding to International Civil Aviation Organisation Category 4E. It is crossed by a (rarely-operational) railway line, one of the few such runways in the world. Max capacity: Boeing 777-300ER. There is nose-in parking for 4 wide-bodied aircraft at a time or 3 Airbus and 2 narrow-body aircraft at a time. The airport has 2 air bridges which were constructed in 2018.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah
Emirates Dubai–International
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi (resumes 29 September 2025) [8]
Flyadeal Riyadh [9]
Flydubai Dubai–International [10]
Fly Jinnah [11] [12] Karachi
Pakistan International Airlines Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai–International, Jeddah, Karachi, Muscat, Riyadh, Sharjah
Qatar Airways Doha
SalamAir Muscat
Saudia Jeddah, Riyadh
Serene Air Jeddah, Karachi, Riyadh, [13] Sharjah

Incidents and accidents

See also

References

  1. "MAJOR TRAFFIC FLOWS BY AIRPORTS DURING THE YEAR 2023-2024" (PDF). Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority . Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  2. "eAIP-Aerodomes-Peshawar (OPPS)". Pakistan Airports Authority . Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  3. Peshawar Airport gets a new name Archived 24 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Hamling, Anna (16 October 2019). Contemporary Icons of Nonviolence. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5275-4173-3.
  5. "Peshawar route opens". Birmingham Post. 15 July 2004. ProQuest   323937544.
  6. "High level meeting discusses expansion of Peshawar airport in Pakistan". Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
  7. "Rs 5bn allocated to expand Peshawar airport". Daily Times (Pakistan). Archived from the original on 25 June 2008.
  8. Liu, Jim (10 April 2025). "Etihad Resumes Peshawar Service in late-Sep 2025". AeroRoutes.
  9. "flyadeal Expands Pakistan Network From late-August 2025". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  10. "flydubai Schedules Peshawar mid-May 2025 Launch". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  11. "Pakistan's low-cost airline Fly Jinnah set to commence operations after securing license - Islamabad Scene". 20 October 2022.
  12. "Fly Jinnah". flyjinnah.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  13. "SERENE AIR PLANS PESHAWAR – RIYADH LATE-JULY 2022 LAUNCH". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. "The News International: Latest, Breaking, Pakistan, Sports and Video News" . Retrieved 1 June 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. "Landing assault: PIA flight comes under fire over Peshawar airport". The Express Tribune. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  16. "Search operation: Over 200 arrested following attack on PIA aircraft". The Express Tribune. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  17. "PK-756 firing: Emirates, Etihad suspend flights to Peshawar". The Express Tribune. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  18. "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map".
  19. "Times of India - Saudi Airlines with 297 aboard catches fire". The Times of India. 11 July 2024.

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