<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-center">History Faisalabad International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para"><strong>Early years: </strong>The airport traces its origins to the British Raj. The city government decided that Faisalabad had a strategic position within the South Asia and the British Empire. In 1942, the local government gave permission for the construction of a bricked strip measuring 5000' by 100'. Regional aircraft used the strip, and it played a role in the fighting and evacuation during the struggle for independence.</p>
<p class="blog-para">It was originally known as Lyallpur Airfield and had been known as such until 1979 when the city was renamed as Faisalabad, in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It was henceforth renamed to Faisalabad Airport; the International Air Transport Association code remained LYP.</p>
<p class="blog-para"><strong>After independence: </strong>The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) began domestic operations in 1958 operating several flights from Karachi. The majority of the flights contained cargo for export. In 1965, the bricked airstrip was re-built to meet standards at that time. The surface was built using bitumen and the length of the runway increased to 9000' by 100' to allow the airport to handle larger aircraft. During 1966&ndash;1967 construction began for a terminal and apron to handle propeller aircraft such as the Fokker F-27 Friendship.</p>
<p class="blog-para"><strong>Expansion plans: </strong>On 22 February 2015, Shujaat Azeem, aviation advisor to the Prime Minister, announced on his Twitter page that LYP would be upgraded to international standards and more international flights would soon be launched from the city. On 5 March 2015 Qatar Airways announced its thrice a week service linking Doha to Faisalabad. The service would be operated by Airbus A321/A320 aircraft. On 9 April 2015, the airport was inspected by Shujaat Azeem, Air Marshal (Retd) Muhammad Yousaf (Director General of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority), Engineer Rizwan Ashraf (President of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce &amp; Industries) and Rana Mohammad Afzal Khan (Member of Parliament, MNA). It was announced that the airport will be upgraded to meet international standards of the IATA/ICAO.</p>
<p><img class="img-fluid p-lg-0 rounded w-100 " title="History Faisalabad International Airport" src="../../main/img/airport/fai/f.webp" alt="History Faisalabad International Airport"></p>