Kyrgyzstan starts construction of int'l airport in Jalal-Abad

BISHKEK. May 15 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan has started the construction of an international airport in Jalal-Abad, the presidential press service said on Thursday.

"Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has laid down an inaugural capsule at the construction site of the Jalal-Abad international airport in the Suzak district of the Jalal-Abad region," it said.

The new airport will cover an area of over 380 hectares. A two-story passenger terminal will have a floor size of 10,000 square meters, and its capacity would be over 350 passengers an hour. The new airport will be listed in the 4E category, making it eligible for servicing aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 and A321.

Kyrgyzstan has been working productively for the past three years to be excluded from the European Union's blacklist, which it has been put on since 2006. The country has undergone two audits by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Kyrgyz Civil Aviation Agency plans to submit more documents to Brussels later this month, Japarov said.

"The passenger traffic has grown 46% and the number of flights 31% since 2021. New aircraft have been purchased, and the once-idle regional airports have resumed operations," Japarov said.

The currently existing airport of Jalal-Abad was opened in 1938 as an airfield. A passenger terminal and an asphalt runway were unveiled there in 1972.