Jinnah International Airport

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Jinnah International Airport
Quaid-e-Azam International Airport
Karachi International Airport

IATA: KHI – ICAO: OPKC
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority
Serves Karachi
Elevation AMSL 100 ft / 30 m
Coordinates 24°54′24″N, 067°09′39″E
Website www.karachiairport.com.pk
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07R/25L 3,400 11,155 Concrete
07L/25R 3,200 10,500 Concrete

Jinnah International Airport previously Quaid-e-Azam International Airport (IATA: KHI, ICAO: OPKC) is Pakistan's largest international and domestic airport. It is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, and is also commonly known as the Jinnah Terminal. The airport is named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was also known as Quaid-e-Azam ("Great Leader").

The existing capacity allows the airport to handle up to 50 aircraft at one time. The facility can handle up to 22 million passengers per year. The airport also provides primary hub for the flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Airblue as well as many other smaller airlines. The airport is equipped with aircraft engineering and overhauling facilities with Ispahani Hangar for wide-body aircraft.

Contents

During the 1940s there was a large black colored hangar (also locally known as Kala Chapra) at the site of Karachi airport, constructed for the British R101 Airship. Only three hangars were ever built in the world to dock and hangar the R101 airships. However, the R101 airship never arrived in Karachi (then part of the British Raj) as it crashed early in its journey in France. This hangar was so huge that aircraft often used it as a visual marker while attempting VFR landings at Karachi. Over the years, the hangar became known as the landmark of Karachi, until it was torn down in 1960s. The airport facilities were further expanded in 1980s to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 respectively. The present day infrastructure of Jinnah International Complex is a result of an expansion program carried out in 1994.[1]

Karachi was once a much busier airport. Between the 1960s and 1980s it was an online station of several major airlines of the world including British Airways, Interflug, Tarom, Alitalia, JAT Yugoslavia Airlines, Aeroflot, Philippine Airlines, Nigeria Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Egypt Air, East African Airways, Kenya Airways, Air France, Qantas, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Pan Am, MEA, Swissair, SAS and Kuwait Airways. However, due to the emergence of Dubai's airport on the World map, increased usage of longer haul aircraft and the poor political climate of Karachi during 1990s, several airlines discontinued their service to the airport.

In the past couple of years Karachi has seen a reversal in fortunes. The dwindling numbers of international airlines has stabilised and whilst there hasn't been a marked increase in the number of airlines flying in to Karachi, some have either increased the number of flights or resumed their old operations. Economic factors may be partly responsible for the upswing in activity at the airport. As industrial growth in Karachi and the rest of Pakistan expands, some European and Asian carriers are mooting resumption of services to Jinnah International.

Jinnah Terminal at Karachi Int'l Airport, Karachi
Jinnah Terminal at Karachi Int'l Airport, Karachi

It has 18 passenger gates and is able to handle 50 planes at the same time. 16 million passengers use the airport annually, while the airport itself boasts a capacity of handling up to 22 million passengers in a year.

Jinnah International Airport in Karachi has always been the largest aviation facility in Pakistan. It is the primary hub of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). All other Pakistani airlines also use Jinnah International Airport as their main hub. This includes Air Blue, and Shaheen Air.

The building is linked via connecting corridors to two satellites, each having a provision of eight passenger-loading bridges. The eastern satellite is devoted exclusively to handling international operations. The western satellite is used for domestic operations, as well as some international operations. This is achieved through a flexible arrangement of gates. The two satellites supplement the departure lounges of the Terminal Building and also provide shopping facilities and snack counters.

The Jinnah Terminal was completed in 1992 at a cost of $100 Million - at its time the most expensive civil construction project in Pakistan. NESPAK (National Engineering Services Pakistan) and Airconsult (Frankfurt, Germany) were responsible for the architecture and planning of the terminal. Sogea Construction, a French company, was the contractor. Mukhtar Husain (NESPAK) was the Chief Architect for the new terminal.

Main article: Ispahani Hangar

Jinnah International Airport is also where the majority of PIA's maintenance network is located, although some of its maintenance work also takes place at Islamabad International Airport. There are several hangars at the airport, the largest is the Isphhani Hangar (named after Mirza Ahmad Ispahani, the first chairman of PIA) that can accommodate two Jumbo 747s and one narrow body airliner (e.g. Boeing 737) at one time.

On 15 February 2006, the first major overhaul of a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (known as "C" check) was done at Ispahani Hangar.

Most of the PIA aircraft are checked and regulated at the aircraft hangars in Karachi. The PIA maintenance also check other airline aircraft in Karachi such as Philippine Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Air Universal

A PIA Jumbo at the Domestic Satellite
A PIA Jumbo at the Domestic Satellite

  • Air Blue (Faisalabad, Gwadar, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta)
  • Pakistan International Airlines (Bahawalpur, Dalbandin, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad, Gwadar, Islamabad, Lahore, Moenjodaro, Multan, Panjgur, Pasni, Peshawar, Quetta, Rahim Yar Khan, Sialkot, Sukkur, Turbat)
  • Shaheen Air (Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar)

The CIP/VIP Lounge can be used by all first and business class passengers on all flights out of Karachi. Passengers being issued an airline card from the Check-in can only enter the lounge. Also passengers wanting to use the lounge have to pay six dollars before entering.

There are a number of banks that passengers can use while waiting for their flight that include: Askari Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Union Bank, and ABN AMRO Bank .

Other services include TVs for Entertainment, Newspapers and magazines, Telephones, Fax & free Internet.

  • On 7 April 1929, Karachi airport became the first airport in British India to be used for a commercial flight, when an aircraft landed with mail en route to Bombay.[2]
  • A Pan American Boeing 747 named the Clipper Empress of the Seas, operating as Pan Am Flight 73, was hijacked on September 5, 1986. Twenty people were killed when the airplane was stormed on the ground in Karachi, Pakistan.

Lufthansa resumes flight to Karachi and starts new service to Lahore from Oct 31,2007.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinnah_International_Airport"
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