A new runway of Odessa International Airport from July 16 began to accept aircraft, the first board to land on the runway was internal flight PQ107 from Boryspil to Odessa of SkyUp Airlines.
“The new runway is the starting point of a new era, our airport is beginning to transform into a powerful air hub in Eastern Europe,” Director of Odessa International Airport Volodymyr Semenchenko said during the opening ceremony of the development concept.
According to his forecasts, after last year’s drop in passenger traffic, Odessa airport expects to accept 1.45 million people in 2021, and reach 4 million in 2026.
The length of the new runway is 2.8 km, the width is 45 meters, construction work lasted 31 months. The accompanying infrastructure was also built: two steering lanes, a modern navigation system for landing, an apron in front of the new terminal, four bridges for boarding and disembarking passengers.
For the first time in Eastern Europe, the technology of “heavy” concrete with a thickness of 40 cm was used, due to which the strength and capacity of the strip was doubled.
According to Semenchenko, after extending the strip up to 3.2 km, the airport will be able to accept E class aircraft, which operate long-haul flights.
