The Taliban administration has agreed to hand over responsibility to a UAE-based company to handle operations at key airports in Afghanistan.
Abu Dhabi-based firm GAAC Solutions signed an agreement to manage three airports, which are located in the Herat, Kabul and Kandahar regions.
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The 18-month contract makes GAAC Solutions responsible for offering ground handling services at these airports.
The contract covers only logistic activities at the airport and does not include airport security.
GAAC had managed ground operations at the Kabul airport until the Taliban took control of the region last August.
The company is said to have later played a key role in rehabilitating the facility.
A Qatar and Turkey consortium is said to have been in talks with the Taliban aviation ministry for managing Kabul, Kandahar and Herat airports.
However, these talks did not make headway, as the Taliban Government insisted that the airports were guarded by their own forces rather than foreigners.
Last year, Turkish and Qatari firms sent their technical teams to temporarily help with airport operations and security.
Last October, Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reportedly stated that the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul was ‘ready’ for international operations and all technical problems had been resolved.
The CAA also urged neighbouring countries and the international community to resume flight operations.
