Islamabad airport gets fast-track services

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated the Rs460 million newly upgraded facilities and fast-track services at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The airport now has a new taxiway to allow the aircraft exit the runway after landing, vacating it for other aircraft to land or take off in a short span of time.

Premier Nawaz went around the renovated areas of the airport, designed to provide maximum facilities to passengers till the completion of the new Islamabad international airport at Fateh Jang. He was welcomed at the new taxiway with a rare water cannon salute. The salute is presented to special flights. Two fire tenders of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) sprayed aerial water shots that create an arch of water, causing a rainbow.

The prime minister opted to travel in a CAA coach to the airport terminal along with the media and security and was briefed along the way by his Adviser on Civil Aviation Shujaat Azeem. The advisor informed Nawaz that the airport now has parking for 700 vehicles, besides a dedicated 375-car parking for the staff, wheelchair access to the entire building, dedicated toilets for the disabled, and free Wi-Fi access. The entire airport has been declared a no-smoking zone. The remarkable feature about the renovation was that no tree was cut during the expansion works.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2015.