ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will soon be receiving bids and proposals from international consultants and architects on the design of the $300 million new Islamabad airport. It is envisaged that the design consultants will commence their services by the end of March this year. The CAA has already hired the services of Louis Berger Group of the US in association with Pakistani consulting firm, ECIL, for undertaking development of the new Islamabad airport.

Processes for invitation of bids and award of construction contracts will be initiated soon. It is anticipated that the new facility will become operational by 2010.

The new airport site is located on 3,200 acres acquired by the CAA in the 1980s at Pind Ranjha near Tarnol-Fatehjang Road, some 20kms from Zero Point and 23kms from Saddar, Rawalpindi.

The site of the new airport would be linked with the motorway and national highways.

The CAA said the airport would be developed according to international standards to serve as a major hub for all aviation activities in the region.

Estimated to cost about $300 million, the new airport facility, which will be 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 together 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 100,000 metric tons 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.—PPI