The ‘Active’ mode of the New Islamabad International airport designed by French company Aéroports de Paris Ingenierie and CPG Corporation of Singapore is still waiting to be switch on. Earlier it was decided to make it operational on April 20 but due to lack of satisfaction of the authorities regarding the systems and devices, it has been held up till 3rd of May 2018. In a report of The News Prime Minister’s Advisor on Aviation Sardar Mahtab Khan revealed with a strong determination that the Airport is going to welcome its commuters with the official name “Islamabad International Airport (IIAP)”. This decision is condemning the idea of naming it after a personality’s name.
By the superficial furnished looks of arrival and departure systems are really appealing. These attractive comports are finely parallel to internationally standardized Airports. It is tagged as the first Greenfield Airport in Pakistan established with cutting edge technology. How it meets the 21st century challenges revealed by its service to 9 million passengers and carrying 50,000 metric tons cargo. A huge part of the land has been allotted for the sake of commercial spots including shops free of duty-charges, 5 star hotel and traditional center, branded coffee area, food courts and business lounges. More than that shopping Mall, theme park, cinema and golf course are the exceptions. An analytic visit to this mega project highlights the completion of major ratio of work but minor reflections of few attention seeking shortcomings are still waiting to be addressed. A general review also indicates that the accessibility to the Airport is possible only through personal conveyance. Management puts it’s leveled its satisfying claim against this drawback that a contract has been knotted with a private corporation for the availability of bus service to maintain a link with Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Moreover lack of an accomplished residential society for the aviation and security staff is a big question mark for the management. Question also arise on the increasing flow of the budget which was initially just 37 billion in 2006 and later on it is augmented with 68 billion while a senior official of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported a recent escalation by adding 23.9 billion with it. While focusing the lens on the mechanical shades of the Airport, Kasana Dam is registered in the future plans of the authorities. It will be spanned on seven-hundred acres in close proximity of Airport to execute the consumption of water at Airport. Already Rama Dam which is extended over 282 acres is working efficiently that is enough for more than a year.
Delay in the operational schedule of Airport decided after a detailed visit of the new Airport by high authorities including Sardar Mahtab Khan on 18th of April. He expressed his wish of establishing the Airport to the international intensity. He had showed a general satisfaction over the facilitative readiness of the Airport. “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. A media visit to the airport was prearranged by CAA while authority’s Deputy Director General Aamir Mehboob guided media about the grand project.