Runway Meeting World Standards To Be Built At Irkutsk Airport

A new runway will be built at Irkutsk airport. Irkutsk is one of the historical centres of Eastern Siberia, its largest production and cultural center and the capital of the region of the same name. As airport director Alexei Kulikov said, the project is to be submitted to the State Civil Aviation Service by May of next year. The length of the new runway (4,200 metres) will comply with world standards. Its construction is estimated at $150 million. According to Kulikov, investors from Germany and Yugoslavia have displayed interest in the project. The federal centre promises to allocate the missing funds. Over the past ten years several large crashes have taken place in Irkutsk and its surroundings. The previous crash occurred in July this year when the Tu-154 airliner headed for landing. This tragedy took toll of 145 passengers. The new runway will fully exclude the flight of aircraft over the city. It will make it possible to enhance the safety of flights and reduce the noise, from which Irkutsk residents suffer.