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Pakistani PM Says New Islamabad Airport Will Be Operational By Mid-August


A plane prepares to take off at the Benazir Bhutto airport near Islamabad.
A plane prepares to take off at the Benazir Bhutto airport near Islamabad.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says a delayed new airport in the capital of Islamabad will operational on August 14.

The prime minister on May 6 told state-run PTV that the Islamabad International Airport is being completed “on a fast pace.”

Some initial operations will begin at the airport by July, officials said.

The airport will replace the cramped and much-maligned Benazir Bhutto International Airport, which is in the nearby city of Rawalpindi and is attached to a military base.

In 2014, the Bhutto airport was voted the worst in the world by the Guide to Sleeping in Airports website.

The new airport project is part of the Sharif government’s plan to spend billions of dollars on upgrading the country’s transport infrastructure.

Based on reporting by Reuters and SAMAA TV

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