Nazarbayev Opens New Astana International Airport

UNCLAS ALMATY 000427 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE, MO'MARA) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAIR PGOV PREL KZ ECONOMIC SUBJECT: Nazarbayev Opens New Astana International Airport ¶1. (SBU) Summary: President Nazarbayev presided with great fanfare at the February 2 opening ceremony of the new Astana international airport. The new facility, with a reported operational date of February 9, offers significantly more space than the current terminal. The balloons and band, however, could not entirely mask the simmering tensions over the government's plans to designate Astana as Kazakhstan's sole international hub in October 2005 or the concerns expressed about the terminal's structural stability. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On February 2, President Nazarbayev christened Astana's new airport, calling on international carriers to make Astana "a transit point between Europe and the Far East, southeastern Asia and the Middle East." According to airport staff, the terminal will become operational on February 9. ¶3. (U) Construction of the $216 million multi-story airport began in September 2002 and represents a significant expansion over the space and capacity of the current airport. Built by a Japanese-led consortium, the airport facade is largely glass and steel with an atrium decorated in traditional Kazakh motifs. ¶4. (U) The airport is designed to handle up to 750 passengers at peak hours and 600 tons of air cargo per day. Runway service includes An-124s and Boeing 747s. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications projects that the new terminal will service approximately 15,000 flights in 2005 - nearly 2,000 more than in 2004. ¶5. (SBU) The airport's new design has come in for some criticism. On January 28, the local paper "Karavan" reported that doubts had emerged about the terminal's stability after a load-bearing column buckled in December ¶2003. Siemens employees have privately expressed concern about the impact of Astana's swampy ground on the glass/steel frame as the terminal begins to settle, and about the ability of the glass/steel to withstand the area's extreme weather that can range from minus mid-twenties to one hundred degrees (Fahrenheit). (Note: Siemens was a subcontractor on the new airport project. End note.) ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The government's intention to direct all international flights via Astana beginning October 2005 remains a sore point with western carriers, particularly Lufthansa. The German Principal Officer in Astana told us that Lufthansa will pull out of Kazakhstan if forced to re- direct flight from Almaty -- already an unprofitable route that Lufthansa expects would go even further into the red if switched over to Astana. Kazakhstani officials have blustered and obfuscated when confronted in recent economic/business forums about the likely consequences of forcing western carriers to operate out of Astana. It is not clear whether Kazakhstani officials understand that an international carrier's bottom line may be just as important as the will of the president in this matter. End Comment. ORDWAY NNNN