Bacha Khan International Airport

Bacha Khan International Airport, previously called Peshawar International Airport, is an international airport located in the city of Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Located about a 10-minute drive from the centre of Peshawar, it is the fourth busiest airport in Pakistan. One unusual feature is that one end of the main runway is crossed by a railway line – the seldom-used Khyber train safari to Landi Kotal in the Khyber Pass. The airport was renamed on 27 January 2012 after Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun nationalist political leader.HistoryStrategically situated in the heart of Peshawar, Bacha Khan International Airport is located approximately 180 km from Islamabad (federal capital of Pakistan) which makes it about two hours drive from the capital via M-1 motorway. Since Peshawar is the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, it provides world connections for the majority of the northwest region of the country and adjoining areas of Afghanistan. Since the province has a large Afghan Pashtun community residing within KPK, Afghanistan flights have always been on the rise.The airport traces its origins to 1927 when there was a small airfield that catered to much of the British Empire and aircraft that were either travelling onwards to the east (e.g. to China and Malaysia/Singapore) or west (e.g. Europe and America). For this reason the city was given the nickname "Gateway to the East" because it linked the traditional oriental culture to modern occidental traditions. The airport only gained much importance after the independence of Pakistan from the British Raj. The Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) and the Pakistan Air Force started to use the airfield jointly for both military and civil operations. There were countless flights operated to and from Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, as well as other cities within the newly formed state.