First PIA flight lands at new Islamabad airport

ISLAMABAD: The first mock flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) landed at the New Islamabad International Airport on Saturday to check its operational capabilities and facilities for the passengers.
The flight PK-9001 landed at the new airport around 1:30 p.m. PIA Chief Executive Officer Musharraf Rasool, along with other Civil Aviation Authority senior officials, observed the mock exercise.
The new airport will formally be inaugurated on April 20 for regular international and domestic flights.
Mashood Tajwar, the national carrier’s spokesperson, told Arab News that the old Benazir Bhutto International Airport would be transferred to the new airport between April 19 and April 20.
He said the new airport will help increase business opportunities for local and international flights, besides improving connectivity of the local flights, including the PIA with other airlines.
At the new airport, the PIA management conducted the mock exercise of landing a passenger plane and handling the passengers check-in by its crew members, anti-narcotics force, airport security force, customs and other relevant agencies.
The passengers of the mock flight also passed through the necessary security checks, luggage scanning and customs counters before getting boarding cards.
The new airport is some 30 kilometers from Islamabad and is designed as Y-shape. It spreads over 19 square kilometers with 15 passenger boarding bridges. It also includes facilities to accommodate two double-deck A380, as many as 15 remote bays and seven remote bays for small aircraft.
For the 15 bays, the same number of lounges has been built to avoid mixing of passengers. The new airport has two runways each 3.5 km long.
The new airport will become the country’s biggest international airport for its frequency of landing and number of passenger handling services.
To cater to the needs of the passengers, the airport is also well-equipped with a mini-cinema, food court, children’s play area, five conveyer belts for the international arrival lounge and three for the domestic arrival lounge. Passenger lounges are decorated with truck art works.
It also boasts car parking for 2,200 to 2,500 vehicles for air passengers and a separate one for the airport staff.
Pakistan’s national carrier flies to around 110 destinations around the world every day, including domestic ones. It is managing a fleet of 36 aircraft, which it plans to expand to 44 in the next three years, according to the PIA’s spokesperson.
Earlier on Friday, the PIA management unveiled a new livery with its logo and design to include a painting of the Markhor (a wild goat), the national animal of Pakistan which inhabits a mountainous region of the country.
The Markhor will be visible on the PIA planes’ aircraft tail and engines, while the cockpit of the planes integrates Pakistan’s flag.
“I appreciate this effort of rebranding the airline’s image,” said Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, adviser to the prime minister on aviation. “Markhor is the national animal, it is a fighter and does not lose heart in hard times.
“The PIA will also touch the heights in the same manner,” the adviser said at the inauguration of the new livery and Markhor portrait on the national carrier’s aircrafts.

First PIA flight lands at new Islamabad airport