RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is all set to operate a first mock flight from the New Islamabad International Airport on Saturday (today).

The new Islamabad airport will be named Liaquat Ali Khan International Airport and it will be inaugurated formally on April 20 by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

The old Benazir Bhutto International Airport will be transferred to the new airport between April 19 and April 20.

It will be the biggest international airport of the country in terms of landing and passenger handling facilities.

The “Y” shaped new airport spreads over 19 square kilometres with 15 jetties including facilities to accommodate two double-deck A380, the world’s largest airplane, 15 remote bays and seven remote bays for small aircraft such as ATRs. For the 15 bays, the same number of lounges have been built to avoid mixing of passengers. The new airport has two runways each 3.5 km long.