Pakistan: Commute to Islamabad airport an expensive affair, says report

Lack of public transport system to Pakistan's Islamabad airport, which is located 25 kilometres west of Islamabad, is becoming a financial burden for regular commuters.

Hailing a cab or minivan from Rawalpindi to the airport costs anywhere between Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500, reported The Express Tribune.

This rate goes up for night time and early morning commuters who have to pay between Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000.

The airport became operational nearly four years ago but the metro facility leading to the airport has been in the completion pipeline for a very long time but nothing has been materialized till now, reported the Express Tribune.

Farid Bhatti, a junior employee at the airport also complained saying that a major portion of his salary goes to commuting to work.

"We are four employees who split the travel cost amongst us now, but we suffered a great deal in the start and the employer did not offer any help either," said Bhatti.

Najib Malik, who has just arrived from the United Kingdom to Islamabad with his family, was also shocked to know of the price that the taxi driver quoted him.

"After I had loaded all my luggage in the cab, the driver demanded Rs 10,000 to drive us till Bhara Kahu," he said, as per the newspaper.

National Highway Authority of Pakistan said that though the metro bus project was completed in March last year, however, it was only focused on infrastructure.

Pointing out to the unavailability of other facilities the official said, "Purchasing buses, maintenance, and operations is not our job,", reported the newspaper.

( With inputs from ANI )