New Islamabad Airport gets the final name
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ISLAMABAD - Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mahtab Khan has said that the airport will not be named after any personality and its official name will be “Islamabad International Airport (IIAP)”.
The adviser confirmed 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.
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.
