Challenging Airports - Gilgit, Pakistan (OPGT)

 As an avid hiker, it isn’t unusual for me to spend hours poring over maps, admiring the topography represented by the contour lines that tell the story of elevation and slope. Taken together with my flight simulation hobby, topo maps have led me to discover some interesting airfield locations that I otherwise might not have stumbled upon.

Due to the combination of rising terrain and a narrowing valley, departures are made to the east off Runway 7, climbing out along the Gilgit River Valley to the southeast before joining the Indus River Valley southbound.

I spotted the airport at Gilgit, in the Pakistan-administered mountainous north of the country, as I was scrolling a map westward from the iconic high altitude-airport of Lukla, Nepal. Scattered throughout the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges of South Asia are airports carved out wherever enough flat land can allow for an airstrip. Serving the local population of nearly a quarter of a million people, Gilgit Airport is an important gateway to the region via the capital city of Islamabad.

Descending along the Indus River, to the southeast is the massive presence of the ninth tallest mountain in the world, Nanga Parbat, soaring to 26,600ft

Brief history and location

Originally constructed in 1949, Gilgit Airport (OPGT) was upgraded in 1958 with pavement, while airport infrastructure improvements such as a new terminal building and car parking facilities were completed in 2013. The airport is important to local residents but also serves as a major hub for mountaineering expeditions into the surrounding mountain ranges that include 8,000-plus metre peaks such as Nanga Parbat and K2. To reach Gilgit by road, travellers must endure (or embrace!) a 24-hour ride along the Karakoram Highway, often facing treacherous weather conditions and road hazards such as floods, rockslides and perhaps even the occasional ‘security concern’. For those who need to save time, the approximate one-hour flight north from Islamabad to Gilgit on a Pakistan International Airways ATR 42 is much faster but perhaps no less scenic.

Gilgit Airport sits at the end of a long inverse-C shaped valley carved by the tributaries and main flow of the Indus River.

Airport

Gilgit sits deep in a valley along the banks of the Gilgit River. The river is fed by surrounding glacial rivers and turns south to join the main flow of the Indus River 15 miles downstream.

How to fly to Gilgit (OPGT)

Flights to Gilgit can be replicated by using any X-Plane or FSX/P3D aircraft that is suitable to fly high altitude enroute segments of around 15,000ft. Piston aircraft should consider performance requirements. Historically accurate aircraft that have visited Gilgit are the Fokker F27, ATR 42 and C-130. A Pakistan Air Force Citation XL has also been spotted at Gilgit and some preliminary research into BAe 146 operations were conducted by advance parties in the 1980s but there is no de_ nitive evidence that the BAe 146 ever landed at Gilgit.

While default X-Plane and FSX/P3D airports can be used, I would recommend using MSK Productions Gilgit scenery for FSX. Attempts to use this scenery in P3D resulted in a runway height/graphics glitch that I could not correct. A nice freeware Gilgit Airport scenery for X-Plane is available by ‘myb’ on X-Plane.org. Lastly, an excellent document with details that go beyond the scope of this article exists at www.theairlinepilots.com. A Google search for ‘ATR Gilgit Operations’ will lead you to this excellent, well illustrated PDF guide created by airline captain K Haroon.

The 5,400ft long Runway 7/25, curiously, is not aligned with the general direction of the valley, instead aligning to cross the river with the extended runway centreline off Runway 7 pointing towards a high ridgeline that separates the Gilgit River from the Hunza River. Painted on the steep face of the south-facing ridge is a tribute to the ‘Defenders of North – GB Scouts’, a nod to the paramilitary forces of Pakistan that are tasked with providing security in the hotly contested Gilgit-Baltistan area formerly known as the Northern Areas. This slogan is a useful visual aid for locating the airport and ensuring that you turn up the correct valley. The airport elevation is 4,781ft and there are no instrument approach procedures or airport lighting available so all arrivals and departures are strictly daylight VFR. Despite all of the vertiginous heights surrounding the airfield, the slope of the runway is a mere 0.15% uphill on Runway 7. An NDB (324 kHz) operates only during sunrise to sunset.

A fun section in the aerodrome notes reads: “When an aircraft is wrecked on a runway, it is the duty of the owner or user of such aircraft to have it removed as soon as possible.” Keep that in mind as you attempt to wrangle your ATR into Gilgit in horrible weather conditions!

The Gilgit River forks off to the west (left in this shot) at the confluence with the Indus River – following the Gilgit River will take you right to the airfield.

Operators

By and large, service to Gilgit is provided by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national airline of Pakistan. PIA fields a fleet of aircraft that include the Airbus A320, the ATR 42 and 72, and Boeing 777-200/300.

Currently, PIA operates the ATR 42 to Gilgit after the withdrawal of its Fokker F27 Friendships from the fleet in 2006. In the most recent year for which data is available (2017-18), PIA recorded 38,179 passenger movements to and from Gilgit over the course of 1,104 flights. Due to VFR weather constraints and the unpredictable nature of high mountain flying conditions, the Islamabad to Gilgit route does suffer a fairly high cancellation rate.

In the event of a diversion, aircraft typically return to Islamabad, so care must be taken to carry enough fuel for the round trip.

As a note of interest, a true aviation mystery originated at Gilgit in 1989 when PIA Flight 404, a Fokker F27, departed Gilgit for Islamabad and was never heard from again after a routine radio call was broadcast four minutes after departure. The wreckage has never been found and multiple theories exist on what happened to the aircraft and the 54 people onboard. The mountains surrounding Gilgit in all quadrants are exceptionally rugged, so the total disappearance of an aircraft is not unimaginable but the fact that it has still not been found nearly three decades since it went missing is amazing.

Additional frequent visitors to Gilgit include the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in their C-130s. In an odd arrangement in 2016, the PAF stepped in to provide air service to Gilgit after PIA grounded its ATR fleet in the wake of a fatal accident when an ATR departing Chitral crashed after losing an engine at 13,375ft, killing all 47 people on board. This was the same year that PAF C-130s stepped in to provide essential air service to Gilgit and other mountain airfields, after a PIA Fokker F27 crashed shortly after take-off from Multan International Airport, resulting in the grounding of the Fokker fleet. Ironically, seven ATR 42 aircraft had been ordered the previous year to replace the ageing Fokkers but one of those new ATRs would meet a similar fate as the older F27.

There has apparently been some discussion about improving the airport at Gilgit to allow for an expanded air service. Pakistan is rumoured to be seeking assistance from China for the upgrades in anticipation of opening a flight to Gilgit from Kashgar in western China. In addition, the historically financially troubled Air Indus, based out of Karachi, has been attempting to relaunch operations using ATR 72s to provide services to Gilgit and other areas of Pakistan. Were the airport to receive a runway extension, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that proven short-field capable jet aircraft such as the Airbus A220 (formerly known as the Bombardier C Series) might be able to operate to Gilgit in the future. Fortunately, our simulations allow us to try all manner of aircraft without hazard to life, limb or pocketbook.

With 5,400ft of runway, the airfield favours smaller, short-field-capable aircraft that can also handle the climb over the surrounding nearby peaks.

Getting there

Aircraft typically depart Islamabad and proceed via RNAV to points where a visual descent and approach can be made. Depending on your simulator’s navigation database date, you may be departing from Benazir Bhutto International Airport (OPRN) or the newer Islamabad International Airport (OPIS). PIA uses country-specific enroute RNAV waypoints that are not likely to be in your navigation database (TIPOM – SARPI – BAVRO – TANGO - BUNGI). In lieu of that, you can use Islamabad VOR (RN/112.1) J122 KAGLO J186 KAPMI. At KAPMI, you are in a perfect position to commence the VFR descent to the east along the Indus River. The 68-mile descending arc up the river only gains 650ft of valley floor elevation, so as long as you stay over the river valley, you should be free of obstacles as you descend. A Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) and moving map would certainly be advantageous while navigating such extreme terrain.

 BUNGI intersection, located about halfway through the inverse ‘C’ route you fly following the Indus River is recommended at 12,500ft. From this point, a groundspeed of 180 knots and vertical rate of 1,000ft per minute should provide for an ideal altitude on reaching Gilgit.

Nearing Gilgit, you should see a sharp ridge that divides the Gilgit River (left) from the Indus River (right) as well as ‘Defenders of North’ painted on the south side of the ridge. Aim directly for the writing on the mountain shooting for an altitude of around 1,500ft AGL (6,300-6,500ft) so as to provide for a normal descent rate to touchdown.

The airfield can be spotted by referencing the large tribute sign ‘Defenders of the North’ painted on the side of the mountain and looking just to the west of the ridge.

A significant left descending turn will be required to line up on Runway 25, which is typically the landing runway unless unusually high winds dictate a tricky circling manoeuvre to Runway 7. There is not a lot of room to manoeuvre in the valley west of the airfield. The circle to Runway 7 is best accomplished by hugging the north side of the valley for about a mile before commencing a slow speed, sweeping left turn to line up on Runway 7. This manoeuvre is prime for the overshoot, steep bank, accelerated stall accident – so stay on your toes!

There has been some suggestion of expanding the airport slightly to allow for regional jets such as the Airbus A220 (Bombardier C Series) to serve the airfield. It is an interesting operation to attempt in our simulators.

 Due to the unconventional approach and lack of a normal pattern entry, you can easily find yourself too high or too low on approach to Runway 25. A go-around is as dangerous as the circle manoeuvre to Runway 7, so pay attention to your speed, bank angle and climb rate. The slower your groundspeed, the tighter your course reversal will be but be aware of your elevated stall speed in the turn. Departures are to be conducted only from Runway 7 regardless of wind condition. If tailwinds are excessive, consider waiting for better conditions rather than risk departing Runway 25, losing an engine and not being able to climb or manoeuvre out of the rising valley floor to the west.

A good look at the approach path to Runway 25 via the Gilgit River Valley.