Almaty airport to be overhauled

The international flights area of the Almaty airport is to be overhauled, according to the Almaty City Council’s Press Service. The project envisages expanding the current terminal “to accommodate 2600 passengers an hour [as compared to the current 1600 passengers an hour]. When overhauled, the terminal will be equipped with 8 baggage belts and 44 check-in counters. The floor area will be expanded to 60 000 square meters through adding extra space westwards”, the Press Service reported, adding that the project was approved of by the town planning council chaired by the city governor Akhmetazhan Yessimov. Currently the airport handles about 50 thousand flights a year and deals with over 4 million passengers a year. Planned increase in the number of flights is expected to boost the economic development of both Almaty and the entire country.