ISLAMABAD: After years of criticisms about delays and the increased cost of the project, the New Islamabad International Airport will be completely operational within a year, according to the Secretary Aviation Division Irfan Elahi.

During a briefing to members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday, Mr Elahi said that all access roads to the new airport will be completed during the current year and that flight operations will start by June 30, 2017.

The project for the new airport was first conceived in 1984 and in the same year, the purchase of land for the airport was started near Fatehjang. Land was purchased with prices ranging from Rs30,000 per kanal to Rs500,000 per kanal. The average price of the land bought for the airport was Rs70,000 per kanal.

The foundation stone of the airport was laid in 2004 by the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz and construction work was started without the design being approved. The project was also awarded to 17 different contractors.

NA standing committee told access roads to airport will be completed by June 2017, water will be supplied from two dams

An initial PC-1 of Rs37 billion was approved in 2008 by various government institutions, which did not allow for a fuel system, radar, a radio control building, aprons for planes, sewerage treatment plant, electricity and the availability of water. It is estimated that around Rs100 billion will be spent on the airport.

The Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Rawalpindi currently caters to three million people a year and has 20 check-in counters and space for 400 vehicles to park. The new airport will have 90 check-in counters, will be able to provide parking to 2,000 vehicles and will cater to nine million people a year.

In the meeting of the NA standing committee, Mr Elahi said two new dams, the Ramma and Kassana dams, will be constructed for supplying water to the new airport.

The Ramma Dam is being constructed at a cost of Rs1,657 million and will provide 3.3 million gallons per day. The Kassana Dam will be constructed next year and will provide 503 million gallons per day.

The committee chairman, Rana Mohammad Hayat Khan, said it should be made sure that the completion of the airport is not delayed further.

“The cost of the project has also increased due to various reasons and we cannot afford further delays,” he said.

The chairman also said that quality should be maintained in the remaining construction work because it is the airport of the federal capital and that the quality of the airport will reflect on the image of the country.

During the meeting, questions were raised about the two runways at the new airport which have been constructed so close together that two aircrafts cannot land at the same time.

An official of the Civil Aviation Authority told Dawn that the second runway was made just as another option.

“Sometimes, a runway cannot be used due to problems such leaked fuel on the runway. So instead of stopping flight operations, the second runway will be used should those circumstances present,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016