President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov took part in a capsule-laying ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new Jalal-Abad International Airport in Suzak district. The presidential press service reported.
The new airport will cover an area of over 380 hectares. The two-story passenger terminal will span 10,000 square meters and have a capacity of more than 350 passengers per hour.
Sadyr Japarov emphasized the growing demand for domestic and international flights, noting a significant increase in passenger traffic across the country. This means the need to expand airports throughout the country.
The airfield infrastructure will meet international standards: a runway of 3,800 meters, two taxiways and six aircraft stands will allow the airport to accommodate both passenger and cargo planes.
The new airport will be categorized as class 4E, enabling it to accommodate large aircraft such as Boeing 737, Airbus A320, and A321.
President Japarov also pointed out that Kyrgyzstan has been working steadily for the past three years to get out of the European Union’s aviation blacklist, where it has been since 2006. The country has already undergone two audits by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the Civil Aviation Agency is expected to submit additional documents to Brussels later this month.
«Since 2021, passenger traffic in Kyrgyzstan has increased by 46 percent, and the number of flights has grown by 31 percent. New aircraft have been acquired, and previously idle regional airports have resumed operations,» the president said.
The current Jalal-Abad airport was opened in 1938 as an airfield. A terminal building and an asphalt runway were built in 1972. This year it is planned to serve more than 80,000 passengers. However, the infrastructure can no longer cope with the growing flow of people.
