Service begins in new terminal in Nizhny Novgorod
On March 4, a new terminal building has begun operation at Strigino Airport, located just outside the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. For the time being, the airport is operating under a test regime, during which all technological processes and completed work will be checked, and is currently serving flights only within Russia.
Work on the airport’s reconstruction began in summer 2014. The three-story building, designed by British company Hintan Associates, will occupy 27.8 thousand square meters and is designed to accommodate 1.5 million passengers per year. The deadline for the opening of the new building at the start of the project was set at the end of last year; however, difficulties encountered by Czech contractor PSJ account for the project’s deadline being pushed to February 2016. The airport is expected to begin receiving international flights in April of this year.
The airport is fitted out with modern technology, allowing for the complete mechanization and facilitation of all service processes. In the new terminal, there are 17 registration desks, waiting rooms, 4 jet gangways, 18 x-ray machines and 4 baggage claim carousels. The first test flight at new airport complex was conducted on December 30 of last year—on February 28, work on the site was tested by volunteers. According to the results of the tests, specialists have worked on improving some technological processes.
The cost of building the new terminal, according to Nizhny Novgorod region governor Valeriy Shantsev, is about 4.5 billion rubles (63 million dollars). The airport’s reconstruction comes as a part of measures taken to prepare the city for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Also in the plans for the airport are the renovation and the lengthening of one of the airport’s two runways, while the second runway will serve as a taxiway. Work is planned to continue while the airport is in operation. It has been announced that Strigino is capable of receiving aircraft during this time.
Strigino experienced a decreased in traffic over 2015, with the total number of passengers carried falling 16%, from 1.13 million to 0.95 million. Freight carried through the airport was reduced by 4.2% to 1.08 thousand metric tons.
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