Kazakhstan plans to modernize 11,000 kilometers of roads and increase airport capacity to 40 million passengers, QazMonitor reports.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said that construction of two new railway lines totaling 475 km and the modernization of 2,900 km of existing railways will be completed this year. These measures are expected to increase transit freight volumes by 60%, while the average speed of transit container trains will reach 50 km/h. As a result, cargo delivery time from the Chinese border to the Caspian Sea is set to decrease from 84 hours to 55 hours by the end of the year.
At the same time, the prime minister pointed to factors limiting the development of Kazakhstan’s transit potential, including the high level of wear in railway infrastructure. He noted that the implementation of a comprehensive program to modernize the main railway network remains under constant government oversight.
Bektenov also announced that construction of a second runway at Astana International Airport will begin this year. Once operational, it will allow for the first runway to undergo major repairs for the first time in more than 20 years and increase the airport’s capacity fourfold, to 40 million passengers annually.
In addition, reconstruction of Almaty Airport’s domestic terminal is scheduled for completion in July, increasing its capacity from 14 million to 19 million passengers. Modernization of the airport’s runway will also begin.
Separately, Bektenov said that, following presidential instructions, conditions have been created to establish a market-based price for aviation fuel. As a result, fuel prices have fallen from about $1,200 to $950 per ton, increasing the attractiveness of Kazakhstan’s airspace for foreign airlines.