The Ecuadorian Corporación Aeropuerto and the City of Quito have signed a $300 million contract with the Canadian Government and the Canadian Commercial Corp consortium for the construction and management of a new international airport to replace Quito's joint civilian-military airport. The new airport will be in Oyambaro-Puembo, 25km (15 miles) from Quito, and will feature a 3,600m (11,800ft) runway and a terminal capable of handling 4 million passengers a year. It will also have a cargo terminal with an annual freight capacity of 270,000t. Construction work is expected to start in March and the airport should be completed in 2008. The Belgian state of Flanders has given the go-ahead for an extension of Antwerp airport's runway to 1,500m. The work will include a road tunnel under the approach. A new air traffic control tower has opened at Mostar airport in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Funding for the construction has come from the European Commission. DHL will lease a substantial part of CSA Czech Airlines' new cargo terminal at Prague Ruzyn Airport. Construction of the new terminal, which will handle 60,000t of freight a year, is due to be completed towards the end of next year. The airport's existing cargo centre is being converted into a passenger terminal and due to open next year. The new passenger terminal at Venice Tessera airport has been completed, 14 years after it was first designed. It has an initial capacity of 6.5 million passengers a year, which can be increased by 2 million passengers without any structural changes. The terminal's modular design will enable annual capacity to rise to 13 million passengers through extensions. The airport handled 4 million passengers last year. Vienna International airport has selected the design for its new air traffic control tower developed by Itten-Brechbühl- Baumschlager-Eberle architects. It will be 109m tall and adjacent to the World Trade Centre at the airport.
Source: Flight International
