The new Islamabad airport is nothing but a change in address

A few weeks back, I had the chance of flying out from one brand new international airport to another. Eager to witness Islamabad finally casting off its pockmarked 2015 Rankings (by an international watchdog, Sleeping in Airports) that placed it amongst world’s top ten worst airports, I tried to document my experience. Of course I had great expectations from the much trumpeted, league-upping, game-changing, emblematic fruit of ‘strong democracy and respect for constitution’; and a ​trophy of ‘determination of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz government in serving the masses’, as our Prime Minister had put it with great alacrity during his inaugural address,​ earlier this month.

For the most part, I was ready to have all these chimerical claims rain on me while I’d snap-chat my travel-tale away. But based on my personal observations, I decided to shrug off that Shangri-la and take matters beyond social media. For, eleven years and a hundred and five billion rupees is no joke.

On a side note, ‘loyal’ citizens may rest assured that claims of democratic agility and respect for constitution that this airport facility presumably represents are mere broaches – necessary endearments in a typical public address made by a constitutionally admissible figurehead. A fancy gift-wrap waiting to be husked away to be able to really size up the real deal. And thus, all such victories and florid pronouncements around it ought to be, more often than not, taken as the stuff of ‘alternative facts’. Pulling over the magnificent façade of this monumental achievement reality struck me right at the tollway.

For an infrastructural avant-garde that soaked up a royal budget, tollway of the new airport had no signs of air conditioning whatsoever. One of its booths was missing a glass wall, perhaps, to fend off the green-house-effect in the cubicle. Sun shone down indignantly on the sorriest looking toll-booth operators I have ever pulled up for. Not even a shrub in sight, these luckless men literally stood under the noonday sun without as much as a doubt of a shadow, miles away from any medical facility.

Arguably, not everyone​ has the knack for cooking up corniches dotted with palm trees on the banks of nullahs overnight, our brand-new doorway to the capital still deserved at least vaguely going over this aspect of planning over the past decade. For, after all this airport is not just the doorway to Pakistan, it is emblematic of a governance system that is vested with sacred powers of ascertainment; of loyalty and piety. Representing a supremely halal brand of democracy is a matter that must not be taken lightly. It is clear to see that the clean-cut ‘kafirs’ of France and Singapore did poorly at acknowledging the task at hand, and have failed to create the reception Islamabad truly deserved. If only our veteran real estate maestro hadn’t left bad blood on the deep state, we could have delegated him the task cloning half a Heathrow, or a quarter JFK, or something along the lines.

Yes, it still is an expansive, buildable and structurally stunning facility. But 11 years is enough time to come up with a decently finished, environmentally sensitive, well equipped, well-staffed, and most of all a clean airport, especially when it took us to the end of the rainbow to finally declare it ready.

As I approached the entrance to the International Departures, a sunken forest of neatly lined yellow and white signboards opened up to a vast terminal complex. Glass and concrete that climbed beyond sight gave off an industrial vibe quite comparable to my destination airport. Albeit, this comparison was only​ confined to the elevation. After screening, I was showed to my booth by a permanently apologetic staffer who was delegated by his senior to facilitate me as I was with a child. Upon arriving at my airline counter, I was informed that boarding had stalled, indefinitely, due to some technical error. My facilitator promptly shifted me to another airline’s counter and ensured that my boarding was processed on priority.

All thanks to a team of efficient and considerate facilitators who were kind enough to notice my irritable toddler, I got away with a swamp of passengers filing before my initial counter, and a similarly heaping crowd on the counter I was shifted to. Five stars to the on-ground band of apologists, who were visibly understaffed, technologically challenged, and generally harassed by a brash, angry passenger whose rage could be felt from the distance. And still they managed to stand tall and face the resonance from everything that went wrong at any part of the facility.

The officer who finally processed my boarding had her system hung-up twice in the process. While we waited for her computer to reboot for the second time, I pointed at her shabby monitor and joked, “Airport naya hey per apka computer purana hey?” to which she said, “yahan her cheez thaki hui hey”. By the time I moved to the lounges, I had mixed feelings over the change in address and size of the airport.

On Toilets: There was a marked difference between the upkeep of toilets in the international departure section, which were better staffed and cleaner in comparison to those in the arrival section. The toilet I used just after landing back was dirtier than a low grade cinema, with no attendants in sight. Bullet lifts that ran between floors of the terminal were equally squalid. Sanitation department was clearly MIA or running thin in several sections of the airport.

Yes, it still is an expansive, buildable and structurally stunning facility. But 11 years is enough time to come up with a decently finished, environmentally sensitive, well equipped, well-staffed, and most of all a clean airport, especially when it took us to the end of the rainbow to finally declare it ready. As a Pakistani, I have always been embarrassed of how little we invest on environment, sanitation, presentation, and general upkeep of anything we run, which, to me, is the real tragedy.

From the predicament of the two lone cafes in the boarding lounge that ran on a constant overdrive taking frequent reinforcement breaks, to the haunted duty-free section, to the VIP lounge that couldn’t process keycard, to the apologists on ground that faced the brunt of it all, it can be safely inferred that we continue to function as the same old facility inside the new building.

For what it’s worth, the number of times anyone needs to make an impression of the New International Airport remains to be one. It is beyond my understanding how phenomenally lax CAA can be over sanitation, staffing, general upkeep and preparedness of the facility during the commencement month, and in the run up to the elections. Fraught with numerous scandals with regards to its auditing, and a string of illegalities in the awarding of contracts for the construction and installation of various facilities, the airport continues to cost us our reputation. Pakistan’s image as a Nuclear State, a civilian purgatory, a puritanical Muslim country and all the claptrap that comes into question at the slightest of the excuses is getting most profoundly soiled at our international airports.

Considering that the infamous 2015 ranking was based on a survey that rated airports on basis of services and facilities available within the terminal, cleanliness, comfort and overall airport experience, the New International Airport is little more than a change in address.

The author is a Consultant based in Islamabad. She ​tweets @IrsaHussain​