Strategic focus on expansion of cargo traffic (284 words)

Published: 5/15/2001

Discussions over the development of the cargo terminal at Nizhny Novogorod Airport, originally held last autumn between Lufthansa and the region's administration, have been resurrected, but it looks as if the German carrier is no longer involved. On 11th May, the administration of the Nizhny Novgorod Region held a meeting to discuss the current state of cargo handling and its development at the airport. According to the TACIS programme's assessment, the airport's cargo traffic could be doubled by 2010, through the construction of a cargo terminal and the installation of specialist equipment, at a cost of $0.6m. The site for the terminal has already been identified and this would add a further 1,600 square metres to the current warehouse, comprising 400 square metres. According to Sergey Obozov, Chairman of the regional government, the city's airport is located too close to Moscow (400km) and to Samara airport, in order to compete in passenger traffic and should, therefore, focus on cargo traffic in the Volga Federal region. Obozov said that the TACIS programme business plan, which has been developed by foreign partners and designed to be a discrete business, separate from the rest of the airport, will be called Aviation Cargo Operators NN and 100% state-owned by federal and regional governments, with a 30% - 70% split. The federal ownership reflecting payments due for the state's share of NN International Airport. Obozov added that the state might seek a strategic partner in the future. According to Oleg Valenkov, Director of Regional Agency of International Technical Assistance, by 2010, the cargo traffic passing through the terminal will reach 4,000 tons a year and 5,400 tons by 2015. The total investment amounts to $1.2m.

Article ID: 2530