Taliban moves to hand control of Afghan airports to UAE company

KABUL — The Taliban is handing over control of the country’s airports to a state-run United Arab Emirates company, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office Tuesday.

A memorandum of understanding was signed Tuesday “for the control and management of the airports in Afghanistan,” by Taliban acting first deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar and Razack Aslam Mohammed Abdur Razack, described as the managing director of the UAE aviation company, at a news conference in Kabul.

 Afghanistan’s main international airport in Kabul was ransacked in August as the city’s security forces melted away and Taliban fighters took control of the capital.

Thousands of Afghans desperate to flee destroyed critical machinery such as radar and communications equipment, forcing nearly all international commercial airlines to suspend flights to Afghanistan.

The handover of control of the facility to a company with the technological expertise to repair and operate an international airport could be the first step toward the resumption of international flights more than nine months since the Taliban takeover.

Currently Afghan carriers Ariana and Kam Air are the only airlines that fly internationally.

Qatar initially provided engineering teams to partially repair some navigation and radio systems that allowed for Afghan airlines to resume service. But without fully functioning radar, the insurance costs associated with using Kabul airport make commercial use largely unviable.

Afghanistan is battling a spiraling economic crisis and some Taliban officials have called for international investment to ease unemployment and inflation. But for most companies and banks, the international economic sanctions on Taliban leaders are the most significant barrier to investment.