WHAT WAS DONE OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS
Lragir.am
07 june 06
People arriving in Armenia by air will arrive at the new building of
Zvartnots Airport since September 2006. The arrival lounge will be
ready by that time. The construction of the new terminal with the
departure and arrival lounges will finish in spring 2007. Armenia
International Airports, which has taken up the concession management
of Zvartnots Airport, started the construction of the new terminal
two years ago. Two years later Armenia International Airports invited
news reporters to see what work was done within the past two years.
About 63 million dollars was spent on the new terminal. The arrival
lounge will be on the first floor, the departure lounge will be on the
second. The length of the building with a total space of 18 500 sq m
is 130 m, the width is 35. The building has 6 gates and 5 telescopic
bridges. The construction of the arrival lounge has been finished,
installation of the internal infrastructures and redecoration
is underway. In spring 2007 when the new departure lounge of the
new terminal is opened, passengers will check in at the old round
building and will proceed to the new terminal via the new corridor
where they will get on the plane. The manager of Armenia International
Airports Juan Pablo Gechidjian states that the new terminal will be
compliant with international standards. According to him, the aim of
the concession manager is to build a modern airport rather than to
make a certain amount of investments.
After the new terminal of Zvartnots is opened in 2007, it will comply
with the top international standards of airports and will annually
receive up to 2 million passengers. The new building is, however, the
first stage of the new era of Zvartnots Airport because the projects
of the concession manager do not finish thus. In 2011 another building
will be built near the new terminal, where the passengers will check
in and get all the ground services, which are now available in the
old building of the airport. This building will require investments
of 183 million dollars. After the construction of the second building
passengers will not enter the round building. The airport management
has not decided yet how the old airport building will be used. Instead,
they already have plans on expanding the terminal in case the number
of passengers exceeds 2 million. Juan Pablo Gechidjian stresses that
the new terminal will be extended at the expense of the VIP lounge
and another telescopic bridge and two gates will be added. This is
still a plan, however. The concession manager of Zvartnots provides
modern conditions not only for passengers but also aircraft. Besides
the new terminal, a new ramp is being built, which will have modern
equipment and comply with modern standards. Aircraft maintenance is
an underground infrastructure, which will satisfy the needs of both
passengers and aircraft.