Begum Nusrat Bhutto International Airport Sukkur بیگم نصرت بھٹو انٹرنیشنل ائیرپورٹ سکھر | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||
Owner | Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority | ||||||||||
Operator | Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority | ||||||||||
Serves | Sukkur, Sibi, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Ghotki | ||||||||||
Location | Sukkur-65200 | ||||||||||
Opened | 1942 | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 196 ft / 60 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 27°43′19″N 068°47′30″E / 27.72194°N 68.79167°E | ||||||||||
Maps | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2017-18) | |||||||||||
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The Sukkur Airport (IATA: SKZ, ICAO: OPSK), also known as Begum Nusrat Bhutto International Airport Sukkur, is a domestic airport located in Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan. It is a medium-sized airport located about 8 km (5.0 mi) from the centre of Sukkur, and serves Sukkur and its surrounding areas; Khairpur, Jacobabad, Sibi, and Shikarpur.[1]
Sukkur International Airport is the second main operational airport in Sindh, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.[2] The paved runway is about 2,700 metres long. It also handles international flights, especially in time of emergencies and because of bad weather conditions.[3]
It is the main alternative to Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, with a distance of about 350 km (220 mi), well under an hour's flight time by turboprop aircraft, and less than 35 minutes by jet.
It was built in 1942 and was originally known as Sukkur Aerodrome, and was used as a military airfield by the British Raj. The airport was renamed as Sukkur Airport in 1980. On 26 January 2012, the Provincial Assembly of Sindh unanimously passed a resolution to name the airport after Nusrat Bhutto (مادرجمہوریت، بیگم نصرت بھثو), a former first lady of Pakistan in the 1970s.[4]
During Hajj season every year, Hajj flights operate from Sukkur to Jeddah and Medina in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and back.[5] The first Hajj flight from the Begum Nusrat Bhutto Airport, Sukkur, left for Jeddah on 6 August 2016. The Hajj flight operation continued until 13 August 2016.[6]