AIRPORT

Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport or D. G. Khan International. The airport is a public airport located 15km (9.3mi) from the city center of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan, which it primarily serves. It is near D.G. Khan Cantonment and has a single, double-sided runway. The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority operates the airport. As of early 2013, it had no night landing capabilities. It is located about 20km from the city, with the IATA code of DEA and ICAO code of OPDG. The airport was built in 1996.

Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport has been operating flights to and from Dubai since 2008 due to high demand and thus making it an international airport. There’s usually high traffic at the airport, especially flight operations to Karachi, which have a huge number of passengers. Shaheen Air (Karachi) commenced operations in November 2012 while Air Indus (Karachi) began its flights in 2013. FlyDubai agreed to start flights from the Dera Ghazi Khan International Airport if a night landing facility is provided. Emirates will also offer flights to Dubai soon.

Dera Ghazi Khan, abbreviated as D.G. Khan, is located at the center of Pakistan, at the junction of all four provinces of the country: Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the headquarters of the Dera Ghazi Khan Division, which comprises the Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, and Layyah districts. It is known for its mesmerizing landscapes such as the Indus River, Green Fields, Pachad Desert, and the Sulaiman Mountains. Some of the flora and fauna that thrive in the city are the Jerdon’s Babbler, an endangered passerine bird from South Asia, and one unconfirmed occurrence of Markhor (Sulaiman Markhor), the national animal of Pakistan. The latter is found at high altitudes.

The city has several historical and tourist sites like the tomb of Hazarat Sakhi Sarwar, who preached Islam in Sodhra, Wazirabad. His Mughal architecture-styled shrine was built in the Sulaiman Mountains, 35km (22mi) from D.G. Khan. Thousands of people from all over South Asia come here on the Annual Celebrations of Birth of Sakhi Sarwar in March every year. There’s also the tomb of Nawab Ghazi Khan Miranithe, the oldest building in the city. 11 of the family members were buried here. There’s also the tomb of Ali Ahmed Qadri (Darbar Qadiriyya), who was considered to be an inborn Wali and who belonged to the Qadiriyya Sufi order from the lineage of 17th-century saint Shah Kamal Qadri Kaithaly. Other sites are Taunsa Barrage, where one of the notable structures on the Indus River called Taunsa Barrage is located; the beautiful village of Ghazi Ghat, one of the notable structures on the Indus River; Fort Munro; Pir Zinda; the tribal area; and Koh-Suliman Mountains. Dera Ghazi Khan is also home to famous mosques such as Jamia Masjid, the biggest in the city; Shah Bagh Mosque; Maulvi Fazl-e-Haq Masjid, one of the oldest in the city; Eidgah; Imambargah Haidrea; and Canal Colony Mosque. After the demise of Sardar Farooq Khan Leghari, the Airport was named after him.