One of Polimeks’s biggest construction projects to date, Ashgabat International Airport has a total cost of $2.25 billion. The design of the new Ashgabat International Airport Complex was inspired by Oguz Khan and the lacyn bird (falcon) which is one of the national symbols of Turkmenistan.
The Airport Complex consists of 266 buildings with different functions and is constructed on a site area of 12 million m² including 2.5 million m² area of runways, taxi ways and aprons. The new airport will also be able to host 14 million domestic – international passengers per year, providing IATA Class A service standards, and be ready to become the logistics centre of the region owing to its new cargo structuring.
Facts & Figures
In addition to a CAT III ILS equipped new 3, 840 metre long runway with Code 4F capacity, which is suitable for landing and take-off of the contemporary Airbus A380 and Boeing B747-8 aircrafts, the other existing Code 4E and CAT II ILS equipped runway will continue to operate. The new airport complex, in which new parallel taxi ways, connection ways and an apron area were constructed, also includes:
• A cargo terminal with 200,000 tons/year load capacity equipped with an elevating transfer vehicle, cold rooms and special shelf systems
• An aircraft maintenance hangar with three aircraft capacity, equipped to allow C-Check maintenance and a ‘full dock’ platform
• 22 technical workshops, five of which have an EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) Full Component Maintenance Certificate
• Helicopter stands and a helicopter maintenance hangar
• 50 aircraft parking stands (27 contact, 23 remote)
• Aircraft engine test and aircraft washing area
• Inflight catering building
• 89,000m² fuel farm and fuel hydrant system
• Fire station and fire department training buildings,
• Maintenance-repair and warehouse facilities
• Civil aviation school, dormitory building, open and closed sports complex
• A simulator and flight cabin crew training building
• Hospital building equipped with hypobaric chamber system
• New air traffic control tower and navigation system
• Airport management building and Turkmenistan Airlines flight crew building
• Open and closed passenger car parks with a capacity of 3,000 vehicles.
• A total indoor area of 429,559m² including other administrative and technical auxiliary facilities
Main Terminal Building
Dazzling with its unique architecture, the main terminal building of Ashgabat International Airport was constructed by Polimeks on a giant area of 166,000m². The building covers all bases to provide the best service to passengers. This extends from the main entrance hall to the luggage area, from cafes and restaurants to duty free shops, and from business and VIP lounges to its 5-star hotel. Having A class service standards according to IATA criteria, the building also offers minimum waiting times while providing maximum walking and waiting spaces for passengers. Beside its stunning architecture, the main terminal building has ‘smart building’ features with high-tech systems and includes the industry’s best practices and technologies from check-in systems to baggage handling systems. The terminal building consists of four main blocks; The Terminal, Pier, Star, and Bridges. A simple and coherent layout provides passengers with well-defined routes of progression from landside to airside and vice versa. The linear arrangement between blocks minimises level changes and walking distances and creates a functional state-of-the-art passenger terminal building to serve 14 million annual passengers for the year 2036.
The Main Terminal Building Includes:
• 112 items of circulation equipment: 53 lifts, 41 escalators and 18 travellators,
• 46 departure gates: 15 fixed bridges and 30 boarding bridges linking the fixed bridge to aircraft
• 15 gate lounges along the pier with 4,005 seats and eight coaching gate lounges with 870 seats General facts & measurements about The Main Terminal Building:
• Building height: 46m; length: 711m and width: 356m
• Food & beverage area: 3,900m²
• Duty free & retail: 1,100m²
• Business Class Lounges: 2,875 m²
• VIP/CIP Lounges: 2,335m²; Hotel: 2,450 m²
• Aviation Museum: 400m²
• Baggage handling area: 8,000m²
• Medical areas: 670m²
Departure and Arrival Features
• There are four check-in islands located in a linear format below the decorative wall
• A linear format has been chosen due to the use of central space for passenger flow and landscaping
• Each island is composed of 13 check-in desks, 12 of which are conventional
• Two common oversize baggage check-in desks are also located next to the conventional desks close to the processing area entrance
• A total of 54 check-in desks are designed to accommodate all of the requisite check-in equipment. Between each desk are the weighing conveyors, feeding the reserve conveyors and the non to the main feed conveyor
• In front of the linear check-in counters, 16 self-service check-in kiosks are located offering passengers the option of checking in quickly and easily by using their passport or identity card
The Main Terminal Building is Equipped with:
• 16 Self Check-in Kiosks
• 36 Automated Passport Control Machines (APC)
• 32 Passport Control Desks
• Eight E-Gates, both in departure and arrival concourses
•There are six luggage reclaim belts in the reclaim halls with a total belt length of 340 metres. The number and size of the baggage reclaim belts have been arranged in accordance with the anticipated aircraft movements
• Two wide-bodies reclaim belts of 70 metres
• Two narrow-body reclaim belts of 50 metres serve international arriving passengers, while two narrow-body reclaim belts of 50 metres serve domestic passengers
The new Ashgabat International Airport Complex also houses a VIP Terminal for the use of the President of Turkmenistan and State Guests. Its design was inspired from the dove, another global cultural element, symbolising peace. The VIP Terminal is built on 146 acres and has a 152 metre x 88 metre building size. New connection roads, a VIP bridge and apron and taxi ways built on 68 acres were also constructed for the VIP Terminal.
List of Awards
The new Ashgabat International Airport Complex has gained many international awards and registrations:
• The tribal carpet patterns (‘Carpet Gul’) located on the roof of the main terminal building, which are the symbols of the five provinces of Turkmenistan, registered by Guinness as the ‘Largest Gul in the World’ record
• World Record Academy, headquartered in America, gave record registration in the ‘Largest Bird Shaped Building’ category
• Global network communication systems manufacturer Cisco, headquartered in America, certified Ashgabat Airport as the ‘World’s First Smart Airport’
• Established in 1986 and headquartered in Madrid, Business Initiative Directions (BID) awarded Ashgabat Airport with ‘International Gold Star for Quality’ for outstanding commitment in quality and excellence
• International Property & Travel magazine presented the airport with the ‘Construction Excellence 2016’ award
www.polimeks.com
