INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Authors: Super UserThe new airport is a four-level complex with many consumer amenities and high-tech passenger servicesFateh Jhang,
Pakistan: It gleams, it glistens, it positively glows.The new Pakistan International Airport cost more than
double the original budget, and its construction was repeatedly stalled for years amid rumors of financial irregularities
It was built miles away from anything, including the capital Islamabad, with no public transport available
Until last month, it still had inadequate drinking water, and some aviation systems still needed tests, postponing its inauguration yet
again.None of that seemed to matter this week, when the mammoth, ultramodern, $105 million facility finally opened in rural Punjab province
The first arriving flight from Karachi touched down Tuesday morning, under an arc of spray from twin firetrucks, and the pilot waved the
national flag from the cockpit.On Thursday, families waiting for flights oohed and aahed at the vast marble floors and glass walls and took
selfies in a landscaped picnic park
Plane crews shook hands with baggage managers
Arriving passengers grinned at glitches, such as being left mistakenly outside a locked terminal door, that would normally have had them
fuming."This is so beautiful and new
It's like a dream - no pollution, so much space," marveled Abdul Rahim, 40, a United Nations employee who had just arrived on a flight from
Kabul that would previously have landed at the small, aging terminal in Rawalpindi city that served the capital area for decades."It will be
good for repairing Pakistan's image," he predicted.The new Pakistan International airport is the country's largestPakistan, a vast but
impoverished country, has long been isolated abroad as a dangerous haven for Islamist insurgents and starved for positive recognition
Its few bragging points included a 170-mile highway and the testing of a nuclear device, popularly known here as the "Islamic bomb" but
greeted far less kindly by the world community.This time, virtually everyone is hoping the impressive new airport, a four-level complex with
a smorgasbord of consumer amenities and high-tech passenger services, will be Pakistan's ticket to revived global prestige and access,
offering an attractive gateway to a scenic, mountainous country that has suffered a steep drop in foreign visitors during the past two
decades of conflict.The airport is the nation's largest, able to accommodate 9 million passengers a year and potentially expand to almost
triple that capacity, officials said
It is also the first airport in Pakistan that can accommodate the double-decker Airbus A-380, the world's largest passenger plane."Peace has
returned to Pakistan after years of terrorism, and now more tourists are coming
What we needed was an international airport, with high-tech facilities equipped to cater to their needs," said Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor,
director of the national tourism development corporation
"Now that we have that, many international airlines will start their services here and we estimate that millions of tourists will begin
visiting every year."The ambitious expansion comes as Pakistan International Airlines, the country's once-thriving national carrier, has
become mired in financial difficulties and mismanagement and now possesses only 32 registered aircraft
Its future is uncertain, and various proposals to privatize or sell it have been inconclusive.Officials are banking that the airport, built
in a barren rural area about 25 miles from the capital, will spawn a profitable hub of domestic commercial and residential development as
well as travel services and hotels, creating thousands of jobs
Signs along the nearby highway offer shares in future condo and mall complexes with names like "Airport Enclave" and "Runway View."Aviation
experts agreed the replacement of the old Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi was long overdue
It was so crowded and run-down that frequent travelers sometimes referred to it as "the bus station." Some observers cautioned against
putting too much stock in the new airport as a cure-all for Pakistan's aviation woes."Airlines are facing heavy taxes in Pakistan and the
authorities are strangling them," said Farooq Rahmatullah Khan, a former director of the national Civil Aviation Authority
"Unfortunately, air travel here is seen as a luxury for the rich, when it is a necessity even for commoners," he said, noting large numbers
of Pakistanis work as laborers in the Gulf States and elsewhere abroad
He also said Pakistan needs to build more domestic airports in small cities to better connect and develop the country.The history of the new
airport spans several political eras and upheavals
It was first envisioned during the 1980s, when the Pakistan People's Party was in power; Benazir Bhutto served twice as prime minister from
The facility was not completed until the current era of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led until last year by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
During the interim period of military dictatorship, Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, and the Rawalpindi airport was renamed for her.The new
airport, however, proved far more difficult to name
The country's two major historical heroes, founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and poet Allama Iqbal, already have other airports named for them
Sharif, though extremely popular during several stints as premier, lost luster after being ousted by the Supreme Court in a corruption case
in 2017.After lengthy debate over various possible candidates, all proved too contentious
Finally, officials announced last month the new airport would be named after no one at all.(This story has not been edited by staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
