newstodate.aero
Sep 20, 2010 (newstodate): The Latvian airport at Liepaja, 210 km west of Riga, has now been cleared by the Latvian state to apply for EU support for a project to upgrade its infrastructure.
Already in 2005, Liepaja International Airport hoped for investments for its airport projects from EU's Cohesion Fund, but without success.
-We have two priorities at the airport, both relating to the basic runway infrastructure, says Agris Sprude, Liepaja International Airport Director.
-First, we need to renovate the runway to increase its bearing, and also to extend it by 300 m to 2,300 m, which would allow us to handle regular flights by aircraft up to the size of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
-Secondly, we need to upgrade our runway lighting system that is already generations old.
-With the support by the Latvian state and EU we could hope to start construction works on the runway by spring 2011, and complete the process, including installation of new runway lighting systems, before the end of 2001, allowing us to welcome new traffic from the start of the summer schedule in 2012.
-We have currently no scheduled traffic at the airport, but earlier operations launched in 2007 by airBaltic to Hamburg and Copenhagen proved that there is really a market for international traffic here. Also the Russian carrier Atlant-Soyuz has been operating flights from 2008 between Liepaja and Moscow, and they have actually informed us of their intention to return to Liepaja in summer 2011.
-So as we are optimistic about the future and the EU support for our projects, we are now launching a marketing effort during the autumn to approach all airlines that could be relevant for opening traffic into Liepaja International Airport. Especially routes to Hamburg and Copenhagen would be strong in demand here, says Mr Sprude.
Already in 2005, Liepaja International Airport hoped for investments for its airport projects from EU's Cohesion Fund, but without success.
-We have two priorities at the airport, both relating to the basic runway infrastructure, says Agris Sprude, Liepaja International Airport Director.
-First, we need to renovate the runway to increase its bearing, and also to extend it by 300 m to 2,300 m, which would allow us to handle regular flights by aircraft up to the size of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
-Secondly, we need to upgrade our runway lighting system that is already generations old.
-With the support by the Latvian state and EU we could hope to start construction works on the runway by spring 2011, and complete the process, including installation of new runway lighting systems, before the end of 2001, allowing us to welcome new traffic from the start of the summer schedule in 2012.
-We have currently no scheduled traffic at the airport, but earlier operations launched in 2007 by airBaltic to Hamburg and Copenhagen proved that there is really a market for international traffic here. Also the Russian carrier Atlant-Soyuz has been operating flights from 2008 between Liepaja and Moscow, and they have actually informed us of their intention to return to Liepaja in summer 2011.
-So as we are optimistic about the future and the EU support for our projects, we are now launching a marketing effort during the autumn to approach all airlines that could be relevant for opening traffic into Liepaja International Airport. Especially routes to Hamburg and Copenhagen would be strong in demand here, says Mr Sprude.