Departure
99%
vs 95% ▲ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Quetta International Airport (OPQT/UET) serves the provincial capital of Balochistan in western Pakistan, sitting in the Samungli area some 12 km south-west of the city centre. It is the principal airport for the province, with a long history stretching back to the pre-independence era, and today handles domestic and limited international traffic on its single pair of parallel high-elevation runways.
Quetta International Airport lies at Samungli, on the south-western edge of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in western Pakistan. Operated by the Pakistan Airports Authority, it is the largest airport in the province and the second largest in the country's south region. For a simulator pilot it offers an interesting high-elevation, mountain-ringed approach with a long history dating back to British colonial administration, making it a distinctive destination away from Pakistan's larger coastal hubs.
The airport is situated in the Samungli district roughly 12 km south-west of central Quetta, within Balochistan province. It sits at a field elevation of 5217 feet, placing operations well into the surrounding high plateau and mountain terrain typical of this part of western Pakistan.
Quetta has one physical runway aligned 13/31, laid out as two parallel hard-surfaced strips. Runway 13R/31L measures 11967 feet and is lit. Runway 13L/31R measures around 11966 feet, is also lit, and Runway 13L is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Air-to-ground communications are available on 292.3 MHz. Ground movements are handled on 121.8 MHz, and the tower operates on 118.05 MHz. An ILS serves Runway 13L, and the airport historically had Precision Approach Path Indicators and a Doppler VOR installed to support instrument operations.
The site began as a small airstrip used for air operations on behalf of the British Empire before Pakistani independence in 1947. After independence, Pakistan International Airlines launched Karachi-Quetta-Lahore services in 1954, prompting construction of a new runway by a French company in 1958. Fokker F-27 Friendship turboprop flights began in 1964, requiring a larger apron completed in 1968, and PIA introduced Boeing jet services in 1972. The airport's first international flight departed in 1977, and growing revenues funded a new terminal building in 1982, alongside a new control tower built between 1982 and 1983. Precision Approach Path Indicators and a Doppler VOR were installed in 1984, and a larger concourse hall opened in 2001 to cope with rising passenger numbers, many of them families seeing off travelling relatives.
The airport is classified CAT 8 for fire-fighting cover and has an annual passenger capacity of around 250,000. Current scheduled operators include Pakistan International Airlines to Islamabad, Jeddah, Karachi and Lahore, flydubai to Dubai, Air Arabia to Sharjah, Iran Air to Mashhad and Zahedan, Fly Jinnah on domestic routes, South Air, and AirSial to Karachi; Serene Air, which uses Quetta as an operating base, has its services currently suspended. Aircraft refuelling is carried out by Shell Aviation under an exclusive licence, and the apron can accommodate up to two wide-body aircraft alongside several narrow-body or turboprop types.