Turkmenistan keen to become transportation hub
By Nigar Abbasova
Turkmenistan with its advantageous geographic location at a crossroads of regional and international routes has a strong transit potential, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.
The president made the remark while getting acquainted with the process of construction of an international airport in Ashgabat.
The airport is expected to become the largest in the Central Asian region. The country seeks to become one of the largest intercontinental transportation centers, CA-news reported.
“The operation of the airport should be implemented on the basis of scientific analysis of situation in the world system of flights, relying on the foremost practice in the sphere and effective methods of management. This will make the airport alluring for international airlines engaged in the transportation of passengers and cargo,” he said.
The project includes construction of 3 terminals including passenger, VIP and cargo as well as new landing strip with the length of 3,800 meters, taxiways, ramp, centre for the management of air traffic and administrative building.
Bandwidth capacity of the airport is expected to be 1,600 passengers per hour. The airport will be able to receive aircrafts of all types of load-carrying capacity. The new airport includes 95 different facilities, 60 of which are large and 35 - small, according to the project. Total area of cargo terminal is 17,174 square meters. The terminal is expected to handle about 200,000 tons of freight per year.
The Turkmen president has recently instructed to keep a strict control over the work implemented in the important infrastructure facility of the strategic transport sector.
Turkmenistan's national air carrier (Turkmenistan Airlines) signed a contract with the Turkish Polimeks company on this project. The cost of the project is estimated at more than $2.2 billion.
Polimeks Construction, one of Turkey’s biggest contractors, won the tender for the construction of Ashgabat International Airport in 2013. The project is considered to be the largest ever to be undertaken by a Turkish contractor abroad.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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