New Islamabad airport opening delayed, name finalised

ISLAMABAD: Operationalisation of the New Islamabad International airport has been delayed yet again as the authorities want to further test the systems and equipment before the inauguration of the Pakistan’s biggest facility which is now going to cost Rs105 billion. Now the new airport will be made operational on May 3 instead of earlier announced date of April 20.

Meanwhile, Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mahtab Khan confirmed to The News that the airport will not be named after any personality and its official name will be “Islamabad International Airport (IIAP)”.

A visit to the site revealed that most of the construction work has been completed yet there are several shortcomings that need to be addressed. The biggest shortcoming is non-availability of public transport to the airport although the management claims an agreement has been signed with a private company to start the bus service to connect the facility with Rawalpindi and Islamabad but so far the airport is only accessible through personal vehicles.

The airport has no housing facility for civil aviation staff and accommodation for Airport Security Force (ASF) is only partially available. The cost of the airport has now escalated to Rs105 billion from the initial estimate of Rs81.1 billion, a senior official of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said. When the construction started in 2006 the cost estimate was Rs37 billion.

A new Kasana Dam will be constructed on 700 acres nearby to fulfil the water needs for the airport although the airport already has a smaller Rama Dam spanning over 282 acres which can fulfil the requirements for about one and a half years.

The decision to delay the launch was taken by Adviser to the Prime Minister Sardar Mahtab Khan on Wednesday after a visit to the new facility. Adviser expressed his satisfaction over the overall preparedness for operationalisation however he wanted the state of the art systems and equipment be tested and trialed more to bring it to the level of international standards.

“For that matter he gave directions to concerned authorities and particularly to CAA to do more tests and trials in order to improve reliability and efficiency of systems,” says a statement issued by CAA.

Meanwhile, the adviser confirmed to The News that the airport will not be named after any personality and its official name will be “Islamabad International Airport (IIAP)”. A media tour to the airport was arranged by CAA while authority’s Deputy Director General Aamir Mehboob briefed media about the project.

The arrival and international departure equipped with modern technologies and state of the art facilities grabbed the attention of the delegation. The airport facilities are at par with any modern international airport. It is the first Greenfield Airport in Pakistan equipped with cutting edge technologies and state of the art facilities for passengers to meet the 21st century challenges. It is capable of serving 9 million passengers and 50,000 metric tons cargo every year in its first phase. This modular design enables the expansions to serve up to 25 million passengers every year by 2025.

The airport is slated to be one of Asia's major aviation hubs and a destinations. Islamabad International Airport is designed by French company Aéroports de Paris Ingenierie and CPG Corporation of Singapore. It is built on 4,238 acres of land and consists of 4-level passenger terminal building, 2 runways, taxiways, apron, parking bays for wide-body aircraft.

There is a cargo terminal, air traffic control complex, fuel farm, as well as a fire, crash, and rescue facility. It is fully equipped to handle all types of aircraft including the new generation aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.

The airport is connected to Islamabad and Rawalpindi via the Kashmir Highway and Motorway via Thallian interchange with the link to the proposed ring road. A four-lane highway has also been constructed by NHA to cater cargo traffic. The Islamabad Metro bus project is also being expanded to connect the airport but the work is still underway on the project.

Being the first Greenfield airport, a significant portion of the land has been earmarked for the commercial purposes such as duty-free shops, 5-star hotel and convention center, branded coffee shops, business centre, food courts, multifunction shopping mall, theme park, cinemas, golf course and other leisure/recreational facilities.

It took almost 11 years to build the new Islamabad International Airport after the ground breaking in April 2007. The 4-level passenger terminal building is 190,370 square metres specifically designed to facilitate passengers and stakeholders and is completely high-tech and fully computerised with integrated systems of international standards.

The airport is also equipped with the latest facilities like 15 Contact Bays/Passenger Boarding Bridges including 9 International, 5 domestic and 1 swing gate. 13 Remote parking Bays for aircraft including 9 International and 4 domestic with 3 additional parking stands at the Cargo Apron and 2 parking stands at State Lounge Apron for travelling passengers, state guests and other stakeholders. The passengers making connections to other international flights are linked to the main international building with facilities like food court and other entertainment facilities like delayed flight lounges, prayer rooms, duty free shops and a transit hotel for international departure and transit passengers. Latest technology available in the world, most state of the art Flight Information Display system is installed in domestic and international arrivals and departures lounges. 30 Immigrations counters in international departure lounge and 40 immigration counters in international arrival lounge, 72 international briefing counters and 32 domestic briefing counters are installed.

The main car parking area for passengers has the parking capacity of 2,200 vehicles having 9 entry and 9 exit toll booths for all the international and domestic passengers. Other state of art allied services like Telecom Services Building, Bachelor Officer Quarters, Medical/Trauma Center, Mosque, Civil Aviation Authority Staff Accommodation, 2 Petrol Pumps (Airside & Landside), Police Station, Security Watch Towers, Out House, Cargo Complex, Custom Cargo Building, Airport Operation Control Center GED North / Log Centre North & MT, Fire Crash Rescue Building (FCR), Satellite Fire Station, Radio Radar Building (RRB), Telecom Services Building, ASF Camp, 132 KVA Grid Station. Water Works, Sewerage Treatment Plant have separate entrances and exits.