Kara…. who? The airport in central Kazakhstan is still largely unknown internationally. However, that is likely to change when the development plans become reality. And they are very ambitious.
Erlan Ospanov is not one of the loudspeakers in the aviation industry. He is Chairman of the Board of Karaganda Sary-Arka Airport. This has an S-L of 3300m x 60m, passenger and cargo facilities, and is located in the geographical center of Kazakhstan. The operator is JSC Sary-Arka AG, a private company that has commissioned a master plan for the future of the airport as a cargo hub. The contract was awarded to Franz van Hessen, owner of the Cologne-based consultancy firm, ACG AirCargo Consultancy GmbH. According to him, an area of 350 hectares around the airport has been reserved for the construction of a free trade zone, the development of which is to begin once the master plan has been approved. This should be the case next November, according to Chairman Ospanov.
He has also announced a connection to the national Kazakh rail network in order to handle rail freight as well as air freight. The existing cargo terminal currently has a capacity of 150,000 tons per year. Franz van Hessen and Erlan Ospanov emphasize in unison that this is not the end of the story. However, they are not producing any castles in the air as far as the infrastructure is concerned. Instead, this is to be expanded depending on demand. Various air freight companies are already flying to the airport today. Andrey Andreev, Managing Director of Proactive Logistic Solutions GmbH for flower transportation, for example, is a charter flight client. His verdict: “Karaganda management understands the needs of the cargo industry and is very supportive. Particularly when it comes to handling time sensitive perishables, they provide state-of-the art services.”
The expansion of the airport will take place in three stages once the master plan has been approved. In the first phase, which will take 3 to 5 years depending on demand from the aviation industry, a new cargo terminal will be built. This also includes the construction of warehouse capacity and the expansion of the apron. The current cargo area might be incorporated or built anew.
