Chilas Airfield is an

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

located at Chilas, a town in the

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

region of northern

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

History

Chilas Airfield was built by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 1927 to support movements of troops and government officials. After Pakistan's

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

, the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) further developed it to support the construction of the

Karakoram Highway The Karakoram Highway (, ), also known as the KKH, National Highway 35 (), N-35, and the ChinaPakistan Friendship Highway, is a National Highways of Pakistan, national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab p ...

who along with the Pakistan Air Force continued to utilize it till 1970 after which it became disused. Proposals to transform the in-active airfield to an international airport had 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 the re-activation of 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 examine the possibilities of air facilities there in order to support construction of the nearby Diamer-Bhasha Dam. 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. This decision came amidst the discovery that the airfield was located in the catchment area of Diamer Basha Dam which meant that it would sink when the dam lake is filled with water.

References

External links

Pakistan Airports Authority Official Website
* {{authority control Airports in Gilgit-Baltistan C

History

See also

References

External links