vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #159 / Business / Reading article...

A three-year Primorye administration plan to upgrade rural airports could increase passenger traffic to remote areas that are rich in timber and minerals and could interest eco-tourists, officials say.

The plan would upgrade facilities and improve rescue services at small airports in northern Primorye. It would cost 6 million new rubles ($1 million) over the next three years.

Husein M. Chabanov, chief expert for the Committee on Shipping, Seaports, Communications and Transportation, said northern Primorye towns have become increasingly isolated. Some areas can only be reached by sea or air, yet in Terneisky County there was no sea transport for several years.

At the same time, the passenger flow on local airlines to small airports in Primorye doubled in 1997, he said.

The plan will be carried out over the next three years because money is tight. But the krai is committed to the improvements, Chabanov said, and will find resources even if it means cutting the budget elsewhere.

The plan was sparked by a 1996 set of Federal Aviation Service rules requiring all airports to be certified by 1999, or the government would shut them down. The rules bring Russia into compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.

Many of the improvements will be centered on the town of Plastun in northern Primorye, though other areas will be affected as well. The plan will:

• Fence in the airport at Plastun to keep cars and people from straying onto the runway.
  
• Build new fueling stations at Plastun and Svetloye. This will extend the reach of planes and helicopters serving the area.
  
• Rennovate facilities and build ticket sales windows.
  
• Lay telephone cables and upgrade radio and meterological equipment.
  
• Improve scheduling. In the past, people flying by plane from Vladivostok to Plastun had to wait a day before catching a helicopter on to other airports.

Plastun is heavily dependent on its airport. Consumer goods must be brought in either by helicopter or ship, said Alla Arifulina, deputy to the chief administrator Terneisky County. This makes prices two to three times what consumers pay in Vladivostok.

The airport’s capacity is sufficient, Arifulina said, but officials hope the improvements will increase the number of flights.

Chabanov hopes the improvements will draw tourists to the region. “I think foreigners will be interested in touring and ‘photo-hunting’ tigers,” he said. “And it’s pleasant to fish there.”

Also, the area is rich in minerals, forest products and fish, and there is a large fur farm in the region. It is home to many indigenous peoples, Chabanov said.