Today a new international airport has been commissioned in the city of Kerki in the east of Turkmenistan (Lebap Region). The opening ceremony was attended by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, members of the Government and other leaders.

During the ceremony, the Head of State inspected the arrangement of the complex, visited the waiting room in the passenger terminal, on the platform and in the CIP hall.

The airport’s handling capacity is 100 passengers per hour, and it is capable of simultaneously accepting two large aircrafts and four helicopters. Moreover, its international status is due to its geostrategic location between Uzbekistan from the north and Afghanistan from the south.

The construction of the airport under the contract by the Turkmen Airlines Agency was carried out by the domestic Private Company “Gundogdy”.

The three-storey building of the passenger terminal occupies a total area of over 2.2 thousand square meters. The control tower is 31.7 meters high.

The terminal’s halls have continuous UV-resistant glass panels, where there is a main lobby with areas for bag and hand-luggage drop stalls, initial examination, ticket offices, an information desk, a buffet with a cafeteria, souvenir and news stalls, a pharmacy, a medical center, and waiting areas for departing passengers and seers-off.

A departure hall (waiting room) is designed for 120 seats, where passengers have access to a cafeteria, a room for mothers and children, and a prayer room. Upon arrival, passengers will proceed to a baggage claim hall. There is also a service area for CIP delegations and passengers, which is completely autonomous in provision. There are convenient entrance ramps and threshold-free crossings for people with physical disabilities.

The terminal is equipped with modern security and service systems such as video surveillance, card door lock, baggage examination and handling, automatic fire alarm and extinguishing systems.

The airport's runway is 2.700 meters long and 45 meters wide, and it is equipped with signaling, ornithological, radio engineering and navigation systems.

The aerodrome area is about 42.3 thousand square meters. The infrastructure also includes the building of the rescue and fire service, a technical block, a garage for special vehicles, several transformer substations and other auxiliary facilities.

The aerodrome complex’s security system includes a protective fence around the perimeter. Engineering protection of the area from flooding, underflooding, as well as a system for collecting storm and melt water from the airfield with subsequent treatment for use in airport irrigation is provided.

It is expected that the new international airport in the city of Kerki will stimulate the intensification of air cargo and passenger traffic both in the eastern region of the country, where a large industrial cluster is developing, and between neighboring countries.

The expansion of a network of small airports is included in the modernization of the transport system of Turkmenistan, taking into account its growing transit potential on an international scale. Following the inauguration of the airport in the city of Kerki, another infrastructure project in the field of aviation, now in the west, was launched in the country. This is the construction of an air terminal complex in the village of Jebel in the Balkan Region.

Its handling capacity will also be 100 passengers per hour, and it will have an international status as it expected to play its role in intensifying air traffic and transport connectedness in Central Asia and the Caspian region. An international tender has been issued for the construction of an air terminal in Jebel.

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