New Islamabad International Airport to be operational from May 3: official
April 18, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The New Islamabad International Airport will be operational from May 3, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official said Wednesday, adding that domestic and foreign airlines have been conveyed directives in this regard.
"Flight operations at New Islamabad International Airport could start from May 3," said Nadir Shafi Dar, CAA director planning. Previously, officials had announced that the new airport would be operational from April 20.
Dar said flights to and from the New Islamabad International Airport could not be initiated from April 20.
Earlier on April 7, the first mock flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had landed at the New Islamabad International Airport. PK-9001 had departed from Benazir International Airport at 1:00pm and landed at the new airport around 1:30pm.
The flight had been scheduled to take off at 12:30pm but was delayed as the boarding process of some PIA pilots and their families, who were aboard the flight, took longer than expected.
PIA Chief Executive Officer Musharraf Rasool had also observed the mock exercise.
The new airport, which is designed as “Y” shape, spreads over 19 square kilometres with 15 passenger boarding bridges. It includes facilities to accommodate two double-deck A380, as many as 15 remote bays and seven remote bays for small aircraft.
The New Islamabad International Airport is going to be the country's biggest international airport for its frequency of landing and the number of passenger-handling services.
The new airport is located 30 km away from the central Islamabad, for which the construction work started in April 2007.
