Kyiv Sikorsky Airport (Zhulyany) is to extend its runway and improve the characteristics of landing approach systems, Denys Kostrzhevsky, head of the airport’s board of directors, has said. “Kyiv Airport has a runway whose length is 2,350 meters. It is located in the central part of the city. Accordingly, its landing approach systems allow aircraft to land and take off under certain weather conditions. To be able to service aircraft in any weather conditions and handle larger aircraft, Kyiv Airport needs to upgrade the category of the airfield,” he told Interfax-Ukraine in an interview.
Kostrzhevsky noted that a master plan for the reconstruction of the airfield had already been developed, it has five different options. Each of them foresees an extension of the runway by 550 meters, improvement of the characteristics of landing approach systems (lighting navigational aids and radio navigation equipment). The estimated cost of the project ranges from EUR 80 million to EUR 100 million.
“The city needs to solve two problems. The first is to allocate plots of land, the second is either to disburse or raise money. There are different ways to raise money: one may take a loan or call a concession tender. If the city decides on concession, then, of course, Master Avia, the airport operating company, will participate in this tender,” the top manager said.
If such a decision is not taken, there may be loans, he added. “Perhaps it will be financing from the municipal budget or there will be a lease with an investment obligation. We do not know this,” he said.
According to him, in particular, the airport asks to allocate 12 hectares of land at the ends of the runway. Currently, the documents are under approval.
“We are in dialogue with the authorities. How quickly the approval will be depends on Kyiv City State Administration and Kyiv City Council. They have been there for eight months. I hope we will get certain results soon,” Kostrzhevsky said.
