Summary After the new airport is operational, the existing airport will be used as a domestic airport.
Dunya News Report (Humaira Sajid)
ISLAMABAD – The New Islamabad International Airport in Attock District (Fateh Jung) is still under construction and has become a victim of continued delays. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC)expressed its dissatisfaction over the information conveyed by the Aviation Division and directed them to give an instructive briefing that explains the hampered progress in the construction of this project.
The idea of the new airport project was first conceived in 1984 and the construction began in 2007. In 2004, the then prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, inaugurated the work on the project. However, the construction of the airport began without any approval of the design.
The PC-I of Rs37 billion, which was the original cost of the project, was approved in 2008 but it did not include the radar, ATC tower, baggage handling, Air Field lightening and security system. Thus, the revised PC-1 pushed the cost to 81.17 Billion and it is expected to increase again due to further delays in making the project operational.
Recently PAC expressed its concerns on the escalation of the costs and repeatedly asked the date of the completion of this project from the Aviation Division. In response to the questions raised by PAC, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) DG Aviation Asim Suleiman told the committee that if the required machinery is imported and water projects are completed on time then hopefully the project would be completed by mid of year 2017 instead of December 2016, which was earlier given as the deadline for the completion of the project.
Captain Shujaat Azeem, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation while talking to Dr. Moeed Pirzada on his programme “Tonight with Moeed Pirzada” said that the cost of PC-1 has increased because the Prime Minister has ordered 13 aero bridges instead of nine aero bridges. In addition, the initial PC-1 cost included only the runway, taxi track and the building.
He also stressed that as of today, 90 per cent of the work is completed and it is very likely that the project will finish by the end of this year. However, the project is facing a number of problems in regard to the access road and water facilities.
There is no ground water available in the project even at 1,000 feet below the surface of the earth. On the other hand, the mushroom growth of private housing societies around the new airport is also considered to pose serious security threats.
During the briefing held in Islamabad, the PAC Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah expressed his concerns on the delays in the completion of project and said: “We don’t want to just grill people at this forum.” “[But] we do not like to be made fools of. It is unlikely this project will be completed in the next two to three years… [So] we want you to give us a deadline,” he added.
At that, the Civil Aviation Authority chief asked for a month’s time to complete his ‘homework’ and check the status of each of the project’s components.
Testing of the new airport had to start in September this year however, the recent briefing given by the Aviation Division has generated uncertainties about the future of the New Islamabad International Airport.
Looking to a brighter side, if the new airport becomes operational by the end of this year it will be the first green field airport of Pakistan that will have the facility to cater for the largest commercial aircraft presently operating worldwide. It will also have 15 boarding bridges and will be able to handle 400,000 metric tons of cargo. It would have 90 check-in counters and a parking facility for 2,000 vehicles and would cater to roughly nine million people every year.
After the new airport is operational, the existing Benazir International Airport will be used as a domestic airport.
