Govt to take over Kandahar airport responsibility tomorrow

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): The Afghan government is all set to take over the responsibility of managing Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport in southern Kandahar province from foreign forces tomorrow Sunday, officials said Saturday.

Local officials say they are ready to take over the responsibility of the airport, but they may face problems in technical, security and operation areas.

Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport director, Massoud Pashton, told Pajhwok Afghan News that most parts of the airport had been controlled by foreign forces since 20 years, but the responsibility would be shifted to Afghans on Sunday.

Meteorology, security, firefighting, engineering, air traffic and communication parts of the airport were managed by foreign forces, but they would be handled by Afghans in future, he said.

Pashton said the mentioned activities would be handed over to the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (ACAA) while the military responsibility would be taken over by 205 Attal Military Corps and Air Brigade.

Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport is mostly used for military purposes – a reason foreign forces have been managing it and their support has been helpful, he added.

He said they had prepared a plan for taking over the responsibility of the airport and ACAA had also sent a number of its officials to Kandahar for training and management.

He said assuming responsibility of the airport was a step toward self-sustainability for Afghans, but they could face some problems in the beginning.

“We have no professional figures in the aviation area, there may be a few and they do not work against a meager salary, they prefer working with foreign companies, so we may face problems in technical, professional and security areas,” he said.

However, he assured that flights would continue normally but they would not be 24 hour a day due to shortage of personnel.

Pashton said it was also not clear what machinery foreign forces would leave behind in the airport.

He added he had shared the shortage of personnel and some other problems with the central government for solution.

Mds/ma

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