The meeting, chaired by Askar Myrzakhmetov, Akim of South Kazakhstan Oblast, was attended by Claude Badan, Director General of the Airport Management Group (AMG – subsidiary of JSC Kazakhstan Temir Zholy), and Bolat Zhamishev, Chairman of the Board of the Development Bank of Kazakhstan.
The memorandum of bilateral cooperation on the project was signed in April this year by Director General of the Airport Management Group (AMG) Claude Badan and Deputy Governor of South Kazakhstan Saparbek Tuyakbayer.
In accordance with the concept of the project, the new airport terminal will be integrated with the railway, bus stations and transport-logistics centre that is currently being commissioned. It is the first time that this type of airport development concept will be used in Kazakhstan.
The project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase – scheduled to be completed in 2016-17 – is the construction of a new 18,000 square metre passenger terminal with the capacity to hold up to 600 passengers an hour. The second phase will be to expand the terminal by a further 16,000 square metres to serve up to 1,200 passengers an hour. On the basis of the new terminal, there will be a new logistics hub, storage warehouses and custom checkpoints. At present, the capacity of Shymkent airport is 200,000 passengers a year. According to preliminary calculations, the new terminal is expected to serve up to three million passengers a year by 2030.
Improvement of the city’s infrastructure will have a positive impact on the country’s economy. The construction of the airport terminal will create 1000 new jobs and increase passenger and cargo transit through the region, which will provide economic growth.
The total investment in the project is estimated to be 164 million US dollars. According to experts, the project has attracted the interest of investors such as the Development Bank of Kazakhstan. Following this meeting, the parties expressed their willingness to study all aspects of the projects and agreed to cooperate in this matter.
(Source: KTZ)
