New terminal in Almaty airport to serve international flights only
The new terminal in the Almaty International Airport is expected to start operating in the summer of 2024. It will serve international flights, while the old terminal will be focused on domestic air travel, the press service of the Almaty city administration reported.
What happened? Almaty Mayor Yerbolat Dosayev and President of TAV Airports Holding Serkan Kaptan discussed the construction of the passenger terminal in the Almaty International Airport.
«As of today, the main work in the airport is 65% done. The tempo of the construction is speeding up. We are expecting the opening of the overhead road to the new terminal by September 1 of this year, while the new terminal itself will be opened in June 2024,» the city administration said in a statement.
What will the new terminal look like? The new international passenger terminal is going to have a floor size of 53,500 m². Thanks to the new terminal the capacity of the Almaty airport will increase to 14 million per year and will improve the work of the airport, the administration said.
What is the current capacity of the airport? Last year, the Almaty International Airport handled 7.2 million passengers, while its official capacity is just 2.7 million. The city authorities are expecting passenger traffic to reach 9 million people this year.
«Once the new passenger terminal is open, the airport administration is planning to kick off the modernization of the old terminal. In other words, the new passenger terminal is going to serve international flights only, while the current terminal will handle domestic travel,» the Almaty city administration said.
What do passengers complain about? As Mayor Dosayev told investors, there are some problems with the quality of service in the Almaty airport. For instance, many residents of the city and its foreign visitors complain about huge lines, long waits for baggage, lack of parking lots and other inconveniences that should be solved.
«There might be some lines and traffic jams due to an increase in flights during the summer season and school holidays. The administration of the airport is taking all necessary measures to improve service quality. For instance, we have installed a new baggage carousel and air conditioners, and bought new comfortable buses,» said Kaptan.
In May 2023, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and Serkan Kaptan announced that the new terminal in the Almaty airport will be opened in 2024. According to Smailov, the construction of the new facility will facilitate the growth of passenger flow, expand the geography of destinations and provide city residents and visitors with a high level of comfort.
The Almaty International Airport is controlled by the Turkish holding TAV Airports. The airport acquisition deal was closed in April 2021. TAV is the beneficiary owner of an 85% share of the airport and associated providers of food and fuel. Kazakhstan Infrastructure Fund controlled by VPE Capital controls the remaining 15%.
In April 2023, the media reported that a Kazakhstani company illegally owned commercial property in the Almaty airport for 20 years. The Transport Prosecutor’s Office has reclaimed this property, which is now controlled by the government.
On June 20, many media outlets including Kursiv reported a massive traffic jam in the Almaty airport due to the increased number of flights amid the summer season and school holidays.
