Airport’s opening delayed by 12 days
New Islamabad International Airport will be operational by May 3 as authorities want to further test the systems; drone making video of airport shot down, 5 held
ISLAMABAD: The operationalisation of the New Islamabad International Airport has been delayed by 12 days as 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 airport will be made operational on May 3 instead of earlier announced date of April 20.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mahtab said the airport will not be named after any personality and its oficial name will be Islamabad International Airport.
Meanwhile, two Chinese and three others were arrested and a drone camera - which they were allegedly using to make videos of the newly constructed Islamabad International Airport - was shot down.
Oficials said the arrested men were workers of a Chinese company involved in construction of the airport and were making the drone footage without permission. The drone, destroyed as a result of iring, was also taken into custody by Airport Security Force (ASF) oficials.
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 says 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.
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 the adviser after a visit to the new facility. He expressed his satisfaction over the overall preparedness for operationalization. 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 Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to do more tests and trials in order to improve reliability and eficiency of systems.
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 irst 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 irst 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. It 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 trafic control complex, fuel farm, as well as a ire, 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.