Four new airports ready in Afghanistan

Kabul, Jan. 31 -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced the completion of four airports in Afghanistan that are expected to play a major role in the economic development of the landlocked country. The airports involved a funding of US$35.3 million of which US$29.1 million was in the form of an ADB loan.

The four airports Chaghcharan, Faizabad, Maimana, and Qalai-Naw are all located in north Afghanistan, bordering Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

They were all existing structures which have been rehabilitated with 6.6 kilometres of new runways, 4,800 sq metres of taxiway, 21,600 square metres of apron 1,013 square metres of new passenger terminal buildings, 12.4 km of airport boundary fence and apron security fencing and gates and 2,420 square metres of staff housing, along with all the requisite infrastructure.

Said the ADB's completion report, made public last week, "The prolonged state of conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in large-scale deterioration of the civil aviation infrastructure and a depletion of skilled personnel. In addition to the lack of maintenance, the deterioration was accelerated by the heavy damage inflicted by prolonged civil strife and military operations.

"Afghanistan relies significantly on the civil aviation sector for keeping most of its remote communities within reach of much needed humanitarian aid and basic public services. Rehabilitating and strengthening the civil aviation sector is crucial for extending the reach of the government in Kabul, thereby facilitating stabilisation and integration of the country.

The airports will help to facilitate year-round air travel services to about 2 million beneficiaries. The nearest larger townships are at least 2-3 days drive by land. They will also help improve government service delivery to these remote, neglected, conflict-affected regions.

The report says that "air transport is now possible all year round. Before, no air operations were possible for almost 3 months during the winter. Travel by land during these months was also restricted. Operation and maintenance costs of the aircrafts have also reduced considerably." Published by HT Syndication with permission from The Bangladesh Monitor. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at [email protected]