The Kharkov international airport plans to open a cargo terminal on February 1, 2014, after its reconstruction, the airport’s Deputy General Director for Aviation Operations Vladyslav Ilin has announced, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports.
"We plan to fully launch the terminal with all its departments on February 1," he told reporters on Monday.
According to Ilin, all the work on the exterior of the terminal has already been completed, and the interior finishing work as well as the installation and commissioning of equipment are nearing completion. The opening of the terminal, which was previously scheduled for the autumn, was postponed because of delays in delivering equipment.
Ilin was unable to provide an exact volume of freight traffic, but he predicted that the daily cargo flow would be comparable to the current monthly volume of freight traffic after the launch of the cargo terminal. "We currently transport about 2,000 tons per month without a warehouse. We plan to handle the same volume per day after the opening of the cargo terminal," he said.
The opening of the cargo terminal, which will handle air and road cargo, was previously planned for October 2013. It will be adapted for storage and handling of hazardous cargoes, among other things. A freezer for storing products that require freezing will be installed at the terminal.
The terminal will have an area of 1,500 square meters. It will be located in a building at the airport that was used as a cargo terminal from the 1970s until it was closed in the 1990s.
The cost of reconstruction of the terminal is about UAH 10-12 million.
