A new international terminal will be built at Shymkent Airport, it was announced at a meeting of the management of the national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and the akimat of South Kazakhstan Oblast.
Photo: Khusan Azizov
The memorandum of bilateral cooperation on the project was signed by Director General of the Airport Management Group Claude Badan and Deputy Governor of South Kazakhstan Saparbek Tuyakbayev. The Airport Management Group is the management company of the six public airports of Kazakhstan.
The concept for the new terminal was presented at the signing ceremony. According to the concept, the project will be implemented to 2030 in two phases. The first phase of construction will be completed in 2020. The total area of the terminal will be 34,000 square metres.
It is the first time this type of airport development concept will be used in Kazakhstan. Freight and passenger terminals will be integrated with the railway, bus stations and transport-logistics centre that is now being built.
Photo: Khusan Azizov
The Airport Management Group has conducted an evaluation of the safety, security and infrastructure facilities of the airport. Specialists at the company developed recommendations to improve the situation and comply with international standards.
In many European countries, multimodal transport hubs, including airports, are normal. Not far from the airport there are bus and train stations and even ports. At present, the Airport Management Group is developing feasibility studies and preliminary data. The new terminal will be built on the north or south of the airport, where new bus and railway stations will also be located. At present, the capacity of Shymkent airport is 200,000 passengers a year. According to preliminary calculations, this figure will increase to 2.5 million.
In addition, 1,000 new jobs will be created. Shymkent is the third most populous city in Kazakhstan and South Kazakhstan is the country’s most populated region. As noted by meeting attendees, the construction of the airport should serve to increase in passenger and cargo transit through the region, which will provide economic growth.
