Flights geography from Ufa Airport should be expanded - Rustem Khamitov

UFA, 28 September 2017. /Bashinform News Agency/. The Head of Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov held a working session on priority directions of air transportation development from the Ufa International Airport. It was attended by members of the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan and heads of major Russian airlines.

Rustem Khamitov noted that Ufa Airport was currently one of the best in Russia, being among the best regional airports of the country for two years in a row. However, its capabilities need to be expanded.

"We need an expansion of the geography of flights from the Ufa Airport. It is necessary to increase the number of airline partners. It is necessary to increase international and regional directions, in particular, to those countries and subjects of the Russian Federation with which the republic is actively developing cooperation", the Head of Bashkortostan emphasized.

Among other tasks, Rustem Khamitov called an increase in number of aircrafts based at the Ufa airport, creation of a single center for maintenance and repair of aircrafts.

The session participants discussed issues of subsidizing regional air transportation, including from the federal budget. In 2017, the Republic of Bashkortostan allocated 60 million rubles of subsidies for air transportation.

"The Ufa Airport continues to increase the number of transportation operations", said the General Director of the Ufa International Airport Alexander Andreev. "On September 15 we serviced the 2 millionth passenger, and by the end of 2017 we plan to transport more than 2.65 million air passengers. Annually, we add at least 12-15 percent to the volumes of the previous period."

He noted that in the capital of Bashkortostan, the airfield complex was renovated: the bearing capacity of the runway cover was strengthened; a connecting path between two takeoff strips and a new apron for wide-bodied aircrafts were built. All this in the end will allow reducing the time of taxiing the aircraft from the current 20 to 10 minutes.

Heads of airlines highly appreciated the technical potential of the Ufa Airport. Thus, the president of "UTair" - Passenger Airlines" Alexey Budnik explained that the airline annually increased its performance by 20 percent. At the same time, Ufa is also interesting as a reliable resource of young staff graduated from Ufa State Aviation University.

The session also discussed the potential growth of air transportation within the republic, including in the interests of the oil industry, sanitary aviation and aviation security and for the development of domestic and interregional tourism.

"We need real deeds. Let's unite our efforts and increase the passenger traffic flow in the Ufa Airport to 3 million people, and then even to 4 million passengers", said Rustem Khamitov. "The republic is building a new terminal for domestic air lines designed for the next 15-20 years of operation. We will do everything to ensure that the aviation industry develops in order to increase the volume of air transportation."