http://armenianow.com/news/29779/armenia_zvartnots_airport_construction
An international airport near Armenian capital Yerevan will have a new functioning terminal by the end of this year.
According to the company managing the airport, by its technical parameters and passenger service quality the new arrivals and departures hall, due to open in October, will be the best in the region.
“At the end of the year we shall, in fact, have a new airport that will fully correspond to the International Air Transport Association’s B class airports (IATA rates airports according to A, B, C, D classes) which will double the potential of the existing airport,” said Zvartnots International Airport deputy director Andranik Shkhyan.
Zvartnots Airport opened in 1961. In 2001 the Armenian government and the Corporacion America group of Eduardo Eurnekian, an Argentine billionaire of Armenian descent, signed an agreement under which the Armenia International Airports company assumed 30-year concession management of the Zvartnots airport.
During this period large-scale activities on the improvement of the airport’s facilities and conditions have been carried out. At present, work is underway at 34,000 square meters of public area for a new terminal, for which an investment of $160 million has already been made.
According to Shkhyan, the new complex will offer 46 check-in desks instead of currently available 24, which will help avoid queues and large concentrations of people. The new facility will have separate spacious departure and arrival halls, a two-storey car park on a territory of 25,000 square meters for 600 cars at a time, or three times as many parking lots as are available today. Annually the new terminal will be able to serve up to 3 million passengers, instead of the current 1.6 million.
“During the past four years we have seen our passenger traffic increasing at an annual rate of 8-12 percent. The new airport will be able to accept up to 10 flights an hour instead of five flights today,” said Shkhyan, adding that the new complex will be fully fitted out with necessary equipment and will be able to properly serve also transit passengers.
Shkhyan also said that the current airport service rates were set in 2002 and have not been revised since then.
“Our tariffs are competitive as compared to a number of airports in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey and are lower even than those at the airports of Vienna and London,” he said, adding that by its features the Yerevan airport twice exceeds the airports of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
A presidential building is also planned at the airport. This facility will be exclusively for serving high-ranking guests.
The total volume of investment for the construction of the new airport complex reaches $244 million. Funding is provided by Corporacion America and three banks. Most of the work is carried out by Armenia-based companies, but there are also contractors from Slovenia and Germany. A total of 600 workers are involved in the construction project.
The old airport building, according to Shkhyan, will continue to operate, but not as an airport.
“The old building will most likely become an administrative center and also a public area where it will be possible to organize conferences,” said Shkhyan.
Before the new complex is completed, passengers arriving at Zvartnots get outside through the VIP hall.
