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Airport to Be Taken Out of Irkutsk
Irkutsk Region’s Governor Alexander Tishanin and chief of Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Yurchik agreed yesterday on intention to establish a new air traffic center 24km from Irkutsk. It was decided to construct a new airport of 1-million passenger capacity. Officially, the project will be implemented to ensure safety of the air carriage in the region. The market players estimate building the airport from scratch will cost $1 billion and doubt the economic efficiency of this undertaking.
The Federal Air Transport Agency and Irkutsk Region’s authorities sealed Wednesday the concept agreement on establishing a new center of aviation traffic in the region. The officials have a month to evaluate the possible construction of a new airport near Irkutsk and present the project to the RF government.
Under the agreement, the construction and equipment of the airport are expected to be funded from the federal budget. The local authorities and investors attracted by them will finance construction of the airport terminal building and other ground facilities.
Today’s airport is located just 7km from the central Irkutsk. The initiative to remove it from the city couldn’t be viewed as “any response to catastrophe,” representatives of Federal Air Transport Agency specified. “This project will be implemented for safety purposes and it is economically substantiated, judging by the preliminary estimate,” Yurchik said.
Airbus A-310 of S7 (former Sibir) crashed in Irkutsk on Sunday. The plane failed to stop when it touched down and veered off the runway, crashing into a building, bursting into flames and killing at least 127 people of 204 aboard. It was the fifth plane crash in Irkutsk from 1994.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 13, 2006
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