SHIRAK AIRPORT IN GYUMRI, ARMENIA, TO BE BROUGHT TO 1-CLASS LEVEL

Arminfo
2007-04-06 14:58:00

It is scheduled to start upgrading of the airport "Shirak" in Gyumri
in May, 2007, and complete it at the end of 2007, Head of the Central
Department of RA Civil Aviation Artiom Movsissyan told ArmInfo. After
upgrading, Shirak airport will not be passed under control of a
private company but the state, A. Movsissyan said. A total of 2,2 mln
drams (about $6 mln by the current rate ) were allocated by Armenia’s
budget for its upgrading, 1,7 mln drams of which will be invested to
repair the landing strip, the taxiways and parks, and 500 mln drams –
to install a runway lighting system. After upgrading, "Shirak" will
become the 1-class airport and foreign air companies will be able to
use that as an alternative one for carrying out international flights,
in force majeure connected with worsening of the weather in Zvartnots
airport of Yerevan. They avoided using this airport so far because of
the poor equipment and insufficiently flat landing strip, A. Movsissyan
noted. By unconfirmed data, the Argentine businessman Eduardo Eurnekyan
is concerned about getting airport "Shirak" under concession control.