Benazir Bhutto International Airport ( ur, , ) is a defunct airport which formerly served the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area. It was the second-largest airport by air traffic in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, until 3 May 2018 when it was replaced by the new

Islamabad International Airport Islamabad International Airport () is the international airport serving Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. It is located south-west of the city, and is accessed via Srinagar Highway. The airport commenced full operations in 6 May 20 ...

. Also known as Chaklala Airbase, it was renamed after the late Pakistani prime minister

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

in June 2008. The airport handled 4,767,860 passengers in 2015–16, compared to 3,610,566 in 2010–11. The airport was located in the area of Chaklala in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

, which neighbours Islamabad. Following the establishment of the new

, the airport is no longer used for civil aviation and now forms a part of the adjoining

PAF Base Nur Khan Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan (founded as RAF Station Chaklala and previously known as PAF Base Chaklala) is an active Pakistan Air Force airbase located in Chaklala, Rawalpindi, Punjab province, Pakistan. The former Benazir Bhutto Internati ...

(also known as PAF Base Chaklala).

History and statistics

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Aviation Secretary of Pakistan, Secretary to the Governme ...

' first direct flight from Islamabad to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

took off in March 2006. The carrier employed

Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

s on the route. In the fiscal year 2008–2009, over 3,136,664 passengers used the former Benazir Bhutto International Airport and 34,025 aircraft movements were registered. The airport served as a hub for the flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines. It was also the hub of

Shaheen Air Shaheen Air International ( ur, ) was a private Pakistani airline with its head office at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and was founded by the Shehbai family. It remained Pakistan's second-largest airline until its liquidation in 201 ...

and a focus city of

Airblue Airblue Limited (stylized as airblue) is a private Pakistani airline with its head office on the 12th floor of the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) Towers in Islamabad, Pakistan. Airblue operates scheduled domestic and international flights, th ...

. In January 2015, the government launched a Rs. 399 million project to renovate and expand the airport, including the taxi way link adjacent to the lone runway of the airport. The renovation was completed by March 2015. The last flight to depart from this airport was PK791 operated by Pakistan International Airlines, heading for Birmingham, UK which departed at 11:39 AM PST marking the end of scheduled commercial flights to the airport.

New airport

A new airport was constructed in

Fateh Jang Fateh Jang (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in Attock District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. It is located from Attock City, and nearly southwest of Islamabad, Pakistan's capital near M1 motorway. Overview The city is located in between Kala C ...

Attock District Attock District (Urdu and pnb, ) is a district in Pothohar Plateau of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Its capital is Attock city. The district was created in April 1904 by the merging of tehsils of nearby districts. Its former name was ...

, approximately west of the twin cities. It was built to replace the existing Benazir Bhutto International Airport in response to increasing air traffic and passenger load. It is now completed, and has become the first greenfield airport in Pakistan and the first to support the landing of

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

. Built on an area of 3,289 acres, the project consisted of 90 check-in counters and a parking facility for 2,000 vehicles and will cater to an upward of 10 million people every year in its first phase and up to 25 million in the second phase. The terminal includes 15 gates with ten remote gates, a four-star hotel, duty-free shops, two runways, six taxiways, a food court and 42 immigration counters. The airport is connected to Islamabad via the Srinagar Highway, and Rawalpindi via the GT Road. In April 2022, the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was expanded to connect the airport with the metropolitan area. The airport was opened for commercial flight operations on 3 May 2018.

Facilities

Benazir Bhutto International Airport was a civil and military airport which handled VIPs as well as public scheduled operations for many airlines. Foreign diplomats, high level government officials, as well as military officials were welcomed at this airport. The airport was only able to handle eleven wide body aircraft at one time, with an additional five parking places for general aviation aircraft. It could not accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 or the Boeing 747-8. This airport did not have any air bridges installed, so buses took the passengers from the airport terminal to the aircraft where air stairs were used.

Current status

Since the airport was built on an

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

, the

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

has taken ownership of the apron and old terminal building of the airfield in a similar fashion to when Lahore's

Allama Iqbal International Airport Allama Iqbal International Airport ( ur, , ) is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-larges ...

moved its terminals. The runway is expected to remain in use by the PAF in the near future and VIPs and other dignitaries will continue to use the airbase instead of Islamabad International Airport. General aviation by private companies is also expected to continue to use this airport instead of the new Islamabad International Airport.

Accidents and incidents

Benazir Bhutto International Airport parking lot

* On 28 July 2010,

Airblue Flight 202 Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled Pakistani domestic passenger flight from Karachi to the nation's capital of Islamabad. On 28 July 2010, the Airbus A321-231 jet airliner serving the flight crashed into Margalla Hills, north of Islamabad's Ben ...

, a domestic flight from Karachi operated by

Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the b ...

AP-BJB, crashed into the

Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. Th ...

in Islamabad while trying to land at the airport. The aircraft crashed into mountainous and wooded terrain near the city, killing all 152 people on board. * On 20 April 2012, a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

(AP-BKC), Bhoja Air Flight 213, which took off from Karachi's

Jinnah International Airport Jinnah International Airport ( ur, جناح بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈا) , formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi Civil Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017 ...

, was destined for Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, but crashed near Chaklala, killing all 127 people on board.

References

Citations

Bibliography

Ground breaking ceremony of new Islamabad airport likely in April
, ''Business Recorder'' (Pakistan's Financial Daily Newspaper), 2005-03-03.

''Pakistan Link Headline News'', 2006-01-07.

''The News'' Business Section, 2006-01-07.
New Islamabad International Airport ready for ground breaking Ceremony
''PakTribune'', 2006-02-07.
Turkish Airlines wants to operate daily flights to Karachi
''The News'', 2007-07-10.
Progress in THY's Pakistan flights
''Turkish Daily News'', 2007-07-19.

External links

* * * * {{authority control Airports in Punjab, Pakistan Airports in Islamabad Defunct airports in Pakistan World War II sites in Pakistan Transport in Rawalpindi