ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday inaugurated the long-delayed new airport in the capital, Islamabad, replacing the cramped Benazir Bhutto airport often criticized by travelers.
A Pakistan International Airlines pilot waved a green and white Pakistani flag out of his cockpit window after landing the carrier’s first commercial flight at the New International Islamabad Airport.
With a sleek glass-front entrance, spacious check-in areas and jetway bridges for boarding, the Y-shaped airport promises an end to the congestion that has frustrated air travel in the past.
“This airport rightly reflects what has happened in Pakistan in the last five years,” said Abbasi.
Abbasi’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party had been eager to open the new airport before national polls, likely in July, as it touts big-ticket infrastructure as sign of economic progress in the South Asian nation of 208 million people.
Abbasi’s government is spending billions of dollars on upgrading Pakistan’s transport infrastructure and ending energy blackouts, with freshly paved motorways as well as dams and power plants popping up across the country.
Abbasi, who has a pilot’s license and is a founder of a Pakistani budget airline, said new airports in the cities of Multan, Faisalabad, Quetta and Peshawar were in the final stages.
The new Islamabad airport, which has the capacity to handle 15 million passengers annually and space for further expansion, was first suggested in the 1980s and has been more than a decade in the making.
The delays have become a running joke with many Pakistanis, who mock the frequent announcements that the new airport would open soon and subsequent clarifications of further delays. The airport’s most recent delay was last month.
“Nothing is impossible but this project definitely seemed impossible,” quipped Abbasi, in reference to his government inheriting the project in 2013.
The new airport is about 15 km (nine miles) from the capital. Benazir Bhutto airport was in the nearby city of Rawalpindi and attached to a military base.
International travelers often complained about chaotic scenes at the airport and in 2014 it was voted the worst in the world by the “Guide to Sleeping in Airports” website, prompting widespread criticism of the airport in Pakistani media.
The new airport is due to start full operation on Thursday.
Pakistan PM inaugurates long-delayed new airport in capital Islamabad
Pakistan PM inaugurates long-delayed new airport in capital Islamabad
- The newly-constructed airport in Islamabad replaces the cramped Benazir Bhutto airport often criticized by travelers
- A Pakistan International Airlines pilot waved a green and white Pakistani flag out of his cockpit window after landing the carrier’s first commercial flight at the new international airport
Lufthansa adds more flights to Asia, Africa as Middle East war reshapes air travel
- Airlines across Europe have been redirecting capacity after suspending services in the Middle East
- Lufthansa said the move also helps meet demand on long-haul routes that Middle Eastern carriers cannot currently serve
LONDON: Lufthansa said on Friday it was shifting capacity from 10 canceled Middle Eastern destinations to routes such as Singapore and Bangkok as it contends with disruption from the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Airlines across Europe, including budget carrier Wizz Air , have been redirecting capacity after suspending services in the Middle East.
Lufthansa said the move also helps meet demand on long-haul routes that Middle Eastern carriers cannot currently serve.
Airline stocks have slumped this week as US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran — and retaliatory strikes by Iran across the Middle East — have disrupted long-haul flights and sent oil prices soaring.
“The war in the Middle East proves once again how exposed air traffic is and how vulnerable it remains,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in a statement. He added the outlook was uncertain, particularly for jet fuel costs.
The schedule changes came as the German group reported better-than-expected 2025 results, saying stricter financial management and fleet renewal had helped contain costs and lift profits. Its shares rose as much as 4 percent, before reversing to trade down 1.2 percent at 1246 GMT.
The company said demand on routes to and from Asia and Africa had risen strongly since the conflict began on Saturday, and it would stick with its focus on expanding long-haul services. Spohr said new flights to Asia would launch in days.
Lufthansa did say how many services it had canceled because of the conflict.
While carriers face costs for rescheduling and rerouting, the biggest impact for those outside the Middle East is expected from surging fuel prices. Brent crude futures have jumped more than 20 percent this week.
Spohr said Lufthansa was well hedged in the short term. The group hedges fuel up to 24 months ahead and was 85 percent hedged as of December 31, according to its annual report.
RESILIENCE
European carriers, including Lufthansa, benefited from slightly lower fuel bills in 2025. Lufthansa’s fuel bill fell 7 percent, helping support earnings as passenger demand stayed firm.
“Last year we were able to significantly increase the Group’s operating profit and achieved the highest revenue in our history. Our results demonstrate the resilience and stability of the Group,” Spohr said.
Lufthansa reported an adjusted operating profit of 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), compared with 1.9 billion euros forecast in a company-compiled analyst poll and up from 1.6 billion euros in 2024. The group also posted an operating margin of 4.9 percent, up from 4.4 percent a year earlier.
Lufthansa aims to lift operating margins to 8 percent-10 percent between 2028 and 2030 from 4.4 percent in 2024, but strikes by workers, including the most recent on February 12, have made it harder to boost profitability.
Bernstein analyst Alex Irving said ongoing weakness in the passenger airline segment persisted, but that strong performances in Cargo and Lufthansa Technik helped lift profits.
The carrier said the outlook for 2026 was unclear due to geopolitical uncertainty. It projected capacity growth of 4 percent, alongside increased revenue and profit margin.
