Chilas Airfield

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Chilas Airfield

چلاس ہوائی اڈا
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) Logo.png
Summary
Airport typePublic
Operator Pakistan Airports Authority
Serves Chilas
Location Diamer District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
Opened1927 (1927)
Elevation  AMSL 1,264 m / 4,146 ft
Coordinates 35°25′37″N074°05′06″E / 35.42694°N 74.08500°E / 35.42694; 74.08500
Website paa.gov.pk
Map
Pakistan Gilgit-Baltistan relief map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
CHB
Location of airport in Pakistan
Pakistan relief location map.jpg
Airplane silhouette.svg
CHB
CHB (Pakistan)
Chilas Airfield
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
mft
N/A1,3724,500 Paved
Sources: [1] [2]

Chilas Airfield( IATA : CHB, ICAO : OPCL) is an airfield located at Chilas, a town in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

History

Chilas Airfield was built by the British Raj in 1927 to support movement of troops and government officials. After Pakistan's independence, the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) further developed it to support the construction of the Karakoram Highway; the FWO along with the Pakistan Air Force continued to utilize the airfield till 1970 after which it became disused. [3] [4]

Proposals to transform the inactive airfield into an international airport came up during the rule of Pakistan People's Party (2008-2013) though none of them materialized. However, in 2018 the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) constituted a high-level board for reactivating the airfield for both tourism and logistic purposes. The nine-member board, comprising Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, WAPDA and PAF officials carried out on-site visits of Chilas to assess the possibilities of air facilities there supporting construction of the nearby Diamer-Bhasha Dam. [5] [4]

According to the committee, Chilas airfield will receive minor upgrades and repair works such that it would enable construction officials from WAPDA and China Power Investment Corporation to reach the dam site via air. The airfield is located in the catchment area of Diamer-Basha Dam and would be submerged when the dam's reservoir is filled. [4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "CHB - Airport". GC Mapper.
  2. ↑ "Chilas Airport". Skybrary.aero.
  3. 1 2 Nagri, Jamil (October 3, 2018). "CAA team arrives in Gilgit to start work on Chilas airfield". DAWN.COM.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kamran, Raja (2018-10-10). "CAA to Save Money by Using Old Airstrip for Airport Near Diamer Bhasha Dam". ProPakistani.
  5. 1 2 Abbas, Ghulam (2018-10-02). "Diamer-Bhasha Dam: WAPDA requests CAA to start air service at Chilas airstrip". Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02.
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