Islamabad: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated Islamabad International Airport on 1st May 2018, according to a news report. This facility will serve over nine million passengers annually, while the capacity will be increased to over 25 million passengers by 2025. This will eventually make the airport one of the major aviation hubs of Asia.
This project was initially conceived in 1984, and over the years has cost the government over PKR 100 billion. After various tests and trials, the airport has been inaugurated. Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal visited the newly constructed airport on 30th April 2018, and took rounds of the various facilities. On the directions of Civil Aviation Authority, a C-130 aircraft carrying luggage and passengers landed at the airport on 27th April 2018 to check the quality of the landing strip. At the moment, the facility can carry 50,000 metric tons of cargo annually.
This airport will connect the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad through Kashmir Highway and Motorway through Thallian interchange, and a four-lane highway has also been constructed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) to cater to cargo traffic. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be the first airline to operate commercial flights from this new facility.