RAWALPINDI, June 15: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will spend Rs14 million on upgradation of the aircraft parking bay at the Islamabad airport to accommodate PIA’s new jets. Airport Manager Farooq Malik on Wednesday confirmed to this reporter that the upgradation work would begin from the next fiscal year.

Although the CAA would be spending such a huge amount only to accommodate the PIA, it is worth-mentioning here that the national flag-carrier is one of its main defaulters.

A foreign airline invested massively in upgrading Peshawar airport’s airstrip a few years ago when it started operating bigger jets from there. The CAA earns huge amounts from that airline.

Such a preferential treatment by CAA has been attracting criticism from other stakeholders in the aviation industry.

PIA is expecting to get three Boeing 777-300 jets later this year as part of its ongoing fleet upgradation plan. These new jets being larger in size than other planes operating to and from the Islamabad airport couldn’t be accommodated at the existing facilities.

The largest PIA jet in national aircraft’s fleet, also a Boeing, is 231-foot long, whereas the Boeing 777-300 series jets would be 242 feet in length.

“Such an upgradation and improvement of the parking stand would only be required at the Islamabad airport, because the other two airports — Karachi and Lahore — from where these planes would be operating have enough and appropriate facilities ,” Mr Malik said.

Meanwhile, the airport manager said the ongoing runway repair work would continue till July 25.

The project, he said, had been planned in such a manner that there was minimum disturbance in flight schedules.

Islamabad airport’s airstrip remains closed from 1pm to 4pm Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.