The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has exited a deal with Pakistan to take over management of the country’s Islamabad International Airport (ISB), after allegedly failing to name a local partner to whom outsource the operations, the Express Tribune reported on Friday, Jan. 23.
What was the deal?
The UAE and Pakistan had reached an agreement in August 2025 for the former to manage Islamabad’s airport as part of a privatisation deal with Pakistan.
According to the Express Tribune, the UAE had earlier sought to expand the deal to include Jinnah International Airport (JIAP) and Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIAP), but Pakistan rejected the proposal.
Official sources also told the Pakistani newspaper that the government had asked the UAE for the final nomination of a local entity, but the UAE responded that it was unable to do so at this stage.
The Pakistani sources added that this signalled a loss of interest in the deal by the UAE, and that the government would add the airport to its active privatisation list, one month after the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The wider geopolitics
Pakistan and the UAE have been partners in commercial aviation before, with Pakistan providing personnel and expertise, and leasing two aircraft, as the UAE established Emirates Airlines in the 1980s.
With Pakistan now in the midst of reforming its own aviation sector, the government has often resorted to privatising certain operations.
Although no political motives were cited, the collapse of the agreement occurred less than a week after the UAE signed a nuclear cooperation deal with India.
Pakistan itself, despite a history of cooperation with the UAE, has been closer to the latter’s own regional rival, Saudi Arabia, with which it signed a mutual defence pact in September 2025.
What do you think of the end of the collapse of this deal between the UAE and Pakistan? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
