LAHORE:In light of government policy to expand country’s aviation industry and exploit the potential of being new aviation hub, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has assigned three mega development projects of aviation sector to National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK).
These projects were: up-gradation and expansion of Begum Nusrat Bhutto (BNB) Sukkur Airport as an international airport for wide-body aircraft with all allied facilities; design and construction supervision for expansion and renovation of passenger terminal building and allied infrastructure facilities at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore; and Aviation Tower at Islamabad.
In this connection, a formal consultancy contract signing ceremony was held here at Allama Iqbal International Airport on Wednesday. The ceremony was witnessed by Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Federal Minister of Aviation, Khaqan Murtaza, DG PCAA and Dr. Tahir Masood, Managing Director NESPAK.
The signing of agreement was made by Engr. V. S. Sodha, Director P&D on behalf of PCAA and Muhammad Farooq, GM/Head NESPAK Karachi Division for Sukkur and Lahore Airport and with Danish Raza, GM/Head NESPAK Islamabad Division for Aviation Tower Islamabad.
After agreement signing ceremony, a brief presentation was given by MD NESPAK to the Aviation Minister about the status of the BNB Sukkur Airport project including extension of Runway and Taxiway, Reconstruction of Apron and Terminal Building along with other allied and support facilities.
He said that new terminal building and airside facilities shall cater for the requirements of Code E Aircraft (Boeing 777) for next 20 years. In addition to connecting the population of the area to international destinations, the airport would also cater to the requirement of exporting local handicraft of area, fresh vegetables and fruit to Middle East countries, he elaborated.
On this occasion, the Federal Minister for Aviation appreciated these efforts and instructed PCAA and NESPAK to complete the planning, design and bidding phase within six months to complete the construction activities in the estimated period of two years.
He said that Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) had also planned to construct a 38-storey high-rise office cum commercial tower at Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area Islamabad.
The PCAA Tower, which would be the first tallest building in Islamabad, was going to be an iconic building with around 38-storeys with state-of-the art facilities. The tower would house various directorates and branches of PCAA as well as airline corporate offices, airline booking centres, business centres, seminar and conference halls, media centres, financial institutes and banks, recreational facilities including an Aviation Science Museum, Art Gallery, Health and Fitness Centre, indoor sports facilities, Baby Day Care Centre, food courts, hotel/lodging facilities, he added.
The building while housing offices of various cadres of PCAA would be having covered area of around 850,000 sq.ft with anticipated project cost of around Rs. 14 billion, he added.
He said the PCAA Tower, being a green building project, was aimed to achieve sustainability, water conservation, energy efficiency, environment friendly design with less carbon footprint.