New Islamabad International Airport
Coordinates: 33°33′38.57″N 072°51′5.81″E / 33.5607139°N 72.8516139°E
New Islamabad International Airport |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan | ||
| Serves | Islamabad | ||
| Location | Fateh Jang, Punjab | ||
| Hub for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,899 ft / 579 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 1 | 4,000 | 13,123 | category-F |
| 2 | 4,000 | 13,123 | category-F |
The New Islamabad International Airport is a British designed 3,600-acre (1,500 ha) international airport that is being built to serve the twin cites of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and the adjoining provinces of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is in Fateh Jang Tehsil of Attock District, which is 30 km southwest of Islamabad Capital Territory. This airport will replace the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Chaklala. Construction began in April 2007 and it is expected to be completed and operational by 2012–2013. It will then take all the commercial flights that are operating out of the Benazir Bhutto International Airport.
Contents |
[edit] History
The CAA asked British architects to design a new airport. The British design was approved by the CAA. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on January 7, 2005 the first-ever green-field airport would be built in Islamabad at a cost of $300 million. The contract signing ceremony was held at the CAA headquarters at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. Pervez Akhtar Nawaz, (director general CAA, air marshal) signed an agreement with a renowned international consultant, the Louis Berger Group of USA in association with Pakistani consulting firm ECIL, to undertake project management services. While the first contract for project management services is signed, the CAA is close to receiving bids and proposals from international design consultants and signature architects for design of the new airport. It was envisaged that the design consultants would commence their services by the end of March 2006. Soon after the mobilization of the project management consultants, other processes for invitation of bids and award of construction contracts will be initiated. It is anticipated that the new facility will become operational by June 30, 2013.
The new airport site is on 3,200 acres (1,300 ha) of land, acquired by CAA in 1980s at Pind Ranjha near Fateh Jang, some 20 km from Zero Point, Islamabad and 23 km from Saddar, Rawalpindi with a driving time of only 20–25 minutes on motorways and highways. The airport will be developed at par with international standards to serve as major hub for all aviation activities in the region.
Estimated to cost about $400 million, the new airport facility, which is the first green-field airport in Pakistan, shall comprise a contemporary state-of-the-art passenger terminal building, control tower, runway with a provision of a secondary runway, taxiways, apron, cargo complex, and hangar with all the necessary infrastructure and ancillary facilities. It would cater to the requirements of latest generation of modern passenger aircraft. The new airport will have a modular design to handle 6.5 million passengers per annum and 80,000 metric tonnes cargo per annum. Being a new airport, a significant portion of the land has been earmarked for commercial purposes such as duty-free shops, hotel and convention centre, air malls, business centre, food courts, leisure and recreational facilities. The new airport is envisaged to be a modern landmark structure symbolic to represent 21st century Pakistan, as it will be its diplomatic and business gateway through the capital city of Islamabad. The CAA announced that it is to be named Gandhara International Airport after the ancient Buddhist kingdom.[1]
 External videos |
|
|---|---|
 |
A graphic animation showing details of the new Islamaabad International Airport |
President Musharraf laid the foundation stone on April 7, 2007. This airport is the largest and most modern in Pakistan. Its total area is 3,700 acres (1,500 ha). It will be completed within four years (June 30, 2013). Construction has started. It will be completed in two phases. The official[who?] said that, through a letter, the Ministry of Defence has requested the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to include the area where the new airport will be situated in the capital territory and issue a notification to this effect at the earliest possible time.[2]
Brigadier (r) Masood Salam, project director of the New Islamabad Airport, was gunned down in mysterious circumstances in his site office in Pind Ranjha at Fateh Jang Road, police said. However, this tragic news has not stopped the development of the airport; it is entering its second phase of construction. French company Aéroports de Paris Ingenierie (ADPi) and CPG Corporation (www.cpgcorp.com.sg) of Singapore have been selected for designing the infrastructure and terminal building of NIIA. The project was worked out through three levels: concept designing, primary and final designing.[3]
The first phase of the project of the Gandhara International Airport was completed in 2008 within a year of the foundation stone being laid. The project will be completed within three years.[1] The airport will be completed by June 30, 2013. [2]
[edit] General facilities
The airport will have a 180,000m² modular terminal building which will initially be able to handle nine million passengers a year. There will be two 4,000m-long category-F runways (for the largest heaviest aircraft) although initially only one will be used for operations; the other will be retained as an emergency runway.
There will be a cargo complex capable of handling 100,000 tonnes a year, four rapid-exit taxiways, a special parking area for hijacked aircraft, apron parking sufficient for the contact stands, underground cable network, parking for ground handling vehicles, secure cargo areas and major airport road infrastructure.
[edit] Terminal design
The design of the new terminal building will be an architecturally significant one for Pakistan, producing a national icon. The design will be sustainable and environmentally sound with use of natural daylight for main lighting and sun shading to cut cooling costs as well as an intelligent main roof (water conservation) and an elongated driveway length front portal (better views and more light).
The terminal will make full use of traditional Islamic geometric patterns in its design. The modular terminal building will have a linear pier on each side and a centre pier extending out to serve the boarding gates. The international and domestic halls will be together under the main roof, which will be a simple trapezoid cantilevered from one of the two side piers with a cantilevered mesh screen trellis defining the exposed roof edge and attaching to a row of columns close to the ground.
[edit] Contractor
The airport infrastructure was designed by ADPI (Aéroports de Paris ingénierie) along with Acorp, Mushtaq and Bilal Mahboob Associates. The terminal building was designed by CPG Corporation of Singapore in a joint venture with National Engineering Services Pakistan (pvt) Ltd (design started in March 2006).
The project management consultants for the new airport are Louis Berger Group of the US along with ECIL (Engineering Consultants International Ltd) of Pakistan.
The first phase of the construction (airside infrastructure including runways) is being undertaken over a 24-month contract for PKR11.8bn by Lagan Construction of the Republic of Ireland (60%) and their local partners Husnain Cotex (40%). Husnain Cotex and IKAN have also formed a joint venture to carry out the preliminary works at the site including earthworks and construction of embankments for the runway and main access road. The air side and land-side work is being carried out by joint venture of Lagan Construction of Ireland, Technical Aaaociate and Habib Construction Services Pvt. Ltd.
[edit] Structure
[edit] Runways
Two runways are planned for the New Islamabad International Airport. The government has additionally acquired a 400-acre (160 ha) piece of land to build it on. The length of both runways will be 4000 metres.[4][5]
[edit] See also
- List of airports in Pakistan
- Airlines of Pakistan
- Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority
- Shaheen Airport Services
- Transport in Pakistan
[edit] References
- ^ New Islamabad airport to be named Ghandara, Daily Times, 2006-06-18.
- ^ Ground-breaking of Modern Airport in Islamabad Performed, Pakistan Times, 2007-04-08.
- ^ CPG Consultants: Islamabad Airport Design Finalisation, 2007
- ^ 2 runways of new airport to be used simultaneously, Daily Times, 2007-04-10.
- ^ Baqir Sajjad Syed. More land to be acquired for another runway, Dawn Newspapers, 2007-10-30.
[edit] Further reading
- Ground breaking ceremony of new Islamabad airport likely in April, Business Recorder (Pakistan's Financial Daily Newspaper), 2005-03-03.
- CAA initiates $300m new Islamabad airport (NIIA), Pakistan Link Headline News, 2006-01-07.
- CAA initiates $300m new Islamabad airport project, The News Business Section, 2006-01-07.
- New Islamabad International Airport ready for ground breaking Ceremony, PakTribune, 2006-02-07.
- The ground laying ceremony at Fateh Jang, 2007 video at YouTube
- Islamabad: Gandhara International Airport, Updates at UrbanPK.com
