Skardu airport has been upgraded to international standard, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Wednesday.

“In line with the PM’s Vision Master Plan to promote tourism across the country Skardu Airport starts operating as an int’l airport from 02 Dec,” the aviation regulator tweeted.

“Initially the operations will be under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) only,” it added.

Located at an altitude of over 7,000 feet, Skardu airport is listed among the world’s highest altitude airports. Its main runway is 12,000-feet long while the second runway 8,500-feet long.

It is noteworthy that a CAA team had earlier conducted a survey to determine whether international flights can land at the airport and as a test flight, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus-320 landed at the airport.