INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Authors: Jordan Last flight departs from Benazir Bhutto terminal as new Islamabad Airport becomes operativeAs

the new Islamabad International Airport becomes functional, Benazir Bhutto International Airport saw last flight taking off today.Pakistan

running at the runway.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.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.