No passengers, no planes: Pakistan’s newest airport is a bit of a mystery

Pakistan's mysterious $240 million airport in Gwadar, financed by China, raises questions about its purpose and impact.

With no passengers and no planes, Pakistan’s newest and most expensive airport is a bit of a mystery. Entirely financed by China to the tune of $240 million, it’s anyone’s guess when New Gwadar International Airport will open for business.

Located in the coastal city of Gwadar and completed in October 2024, the airport is a stark contrast to the impoverished, restive southwestern Balochistan province around it.

For the past decade, China has poured money into Balochistan and Gwadar as part of a multibillion-dollar project that connects its western Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea, called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC.

Authorities have hailed it as transformational but there’s scant evidence of change in Gwadar. The city isn’t connected to the national grid — electricity comes from neighboring Iran or solar panels — and there isn’t enough clean water.

An airport with a 400,000 passenger capacity isn’t a priority for the city’s 90,000 people.

“This airport is not for Pakistan or Gwadar,” said Azeem Khalid, an international relations expert who specializes in Pakistan-China ties. “It is for China, so they can have secure access for their citizens to Gwadar and Balochistan.”

CPEC has catalysed a decades-long insurgency in resource-rich and strategically located Balochistan.