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Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday successfully conducted a mock exercise involving landing a passenger plane at the New Islamabad International Airport. The flight was carrying Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) staff members and their families.
The aim of the testing was the successful landing of a plane and the handling of the passengers by PIA staff, crew, customs, Airport Security Force the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other relevant agencies.
The mock PIA flight was called PK-9001 and departed from Benazir International Airport at 1 pm and landed at the new airport around 1.30 pm. The flight was scheduled to take off at 12:30 pm but was delayed as the boarding process of some PIA pilots and their families took longer than expected.
The employees’ families, traveling in private cars were issued with special passes and directed to reach the airport by 8.45am. However, they didn’t make it on time hence the delay in take off. Wheelchairs were arranged for disabled and sick passengers who were boarded on the plane with the help of ambo-lifters.
The new airport has five-level security systems for Excess Baggage check as well as a food court, mini-cinema, children’s play area and car parking for 2,200 to 2,500 vehicles. There is a public car parking plus a separate car parking for the airport staff.
Five conveyor belts for international arrivals and three for domestic arrivals have been made to facilitate passengers. Passenger lounges have been decorated with truck artworks. The airport can also be extended if required.
The new international airport will be the largest in the country in terms of landing and passenger handling facilities. For the 15 bays, the same numbers of lounges have been built to avoid mixing of passengers. The new airport has two runways, each 3.5 km long. The construction work on the new airport started in April 2007. Blimey! that is a very long time to finish an airport because we are in April 2018 now.
The new airport is ‘Y’ shaped and is spread over 19 square kilometers with 15 jetties (passenger boarding bridges), including facilities to accommodate two double-decker Airbus A380s which is world’s largest airplane. It also has 15 remote bays and seven remote bays for small aircraft such as ATRs.
PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Musharraf Rasool Cyan was overseeing the exercise. The formal inauguration will be held on 20th April with regular international and domestic flights. The operation of the old Benazir Bhutto International Airport will be transferred to the new airport between April 19 and April 20.
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