GWADAR: The New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), built with the financial assistance of Chinese and completed in October 2024, remains largely unused months.
The NGIA started formal operations on January 20, 2025, and the first commercial flight, PIA’s PK-503, landed at the airport from Karachi with 46 passengers on board.
With neither regular flights nor regular passengers, the worth $240 million airport highlights the disconnect between major investments and ground realities in Balochistan.
The airport, built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has the capacity to handle 400,000 passengers a year, yet Gwadar’s population is barely 90,000.
The city’s old airport currently operates only one commercial flight to Karachi three times a week, with no direct flights to Quetta or Islamabad.
Over the past decade, China has invested billions of dollars in Balochistan and Gwadar under CPEC, which links China’s western Xinjiang province to the Arabian Sea.
Pakistani officials and ministers often term the CPEC project as a game-changer, however, the people of Gwadar are yet to see its promised benefits.
Gwadar is still not connected to the national power grid, with electricity either imported from Iran or generated through solar energy. There is also a chronic shortage of clean drinking water. For many, the new airport—designed for 400,000 passengers a year — feels excessive for a city with such a small population.
“This airport is not for Pakistan or Gwadar; it is for China, so their citizens can have secure access to Balochistan and Gwadar,” said international affairs analyst Azeem Khalid told Independent Urdu.
Baloch ethnic minorities say they face systemic discrimination and are denied opportunities available in other parts of Pakistan. The government denies the allegations.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around Chinese projects, with Gwadar heavily fortified by checkpoints, barbed wire, soldiers, and watchtowers. Roads are often closed for the movement of Chinese workers and VIPs.
Seventy-six-year-old resident Khuda Bakhsh Hashim remembers freer times. “We used to go wherever we wanted without anyone asking questions—where we were going, what we were doing, or even our names,” he said. “Now we are asked to prove our identity. We are the residents here—those asking should first say who they are.”
Hashim recalls when Gwadar was part of Oman and passenger ships sailed from here to Bombay. “Back then no one went hungry, men could find work, and there was no shortage of water. But now the water has dried up, and jobs have disappeared,” he said.
The government claims CPEC has created 2,000 local jobs, though it is unclear whether “local” means Baloch residents or workers from other provinces.
Gwadar, known for its scenic coastline and hospitable people, still draws tourists during holidays. But the city remains difficult to access, and many locals believe they are being left out of the economic boom.
Hashim hopes CPEC will eventually deliver jobs and hope to the region’s youth. “When people have food to eat, why would they take the wrong path? Angering people is never a good idea,” he said.
Violence in Balochistan, which had declined after 2014 military operations, has risen steadily since 2021, according to the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies. Security fears delayed the airport’s inauguration, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Premier Li Qiang eventually conducted virtually from Islamabad. The inaugural flight was closed to media and the public.
“Not a single resident of Gwadar has been employed at the airport, not even as a watchman,” said Abdul Ghafoor, district president of the Balochistan Awami Party. “Forget the airport—how many Baloch are employed at the port built for CPEC?”
Ghafoor led daily protests in December for basic amenities like electricity and water. The demonstrations lasted 47 days and ended only after authorities promised improvements, which have yet to materialise.
“Chinese investment brought a rigid security system to Gwadar, creating barriers and mistrust,” said analyst Azeem Khalid. “The Pakistani government is unwilling to give anything to the Baloch, and now the Baloch are unwilling to take anything from the government.”