Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 1 November (BelTA) – The construction of a second runway at Minsk National Airport is in line with the schedule, Director of the Aviation Department of Belarus’ Transport Ministry Vladimir Kostin told the media on 1 November, BelTA has learned.

“The construction of the second runway is on schedule. We do not have doubts that the runway will be commissioned on time. The deadline fixed in the decree is the 2018 year-end but there is a specific date set by the transport and communications minister, namely 7 November 2018,” Vladimir Kostin remarked.

The construction of the second runway is one of the major investment projects in civil aviation along with the construction of a new aircraft repair plant and an air traffic control center in the Sokol neighborhood near Minsk. “This year, a maintenance and repair shop of the new plant will be commissioned. Virtually all the works have been completed. The air traffic control center is to be inaugurated in mid-2018. Its construction proceeds on schedule, too,” Vladimir Kostin added.

The official also spoke about the performance of the Belarusian civil aviation industry: in January-September, passenger traffic went up by 23%, freight traffic by 19%.

The Belarusian airspace is crossed by over 1,100 air carriers from 90 countries. Depending on the season, from 500 to 1,000 planes leave or enter Belarus’ airspace a day (over 220,000 a year). The number of air routes across Belarus has grown and now exceeds 50.