Limak, the Turkish construction firm, which took on the building and operations of Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in 2008, joined forces with France's Aeroport de Lyon in 2010 to build a new airport terminal building and accompanying facilities for Kosovo's Pristina International Adem Jashari Airport to a tune of a 140 million euro investment.
A FIVE MILLION PASSENGER CAPACITY
The new airport terminal building and additional facilities were opened yesterday at a ceremony held at the Pristina International Adem Jashari Airport, which was attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, Transportation, Maritime and Communications Minister Binali Yıldırım, Limak Holding Executive Board Chairman Nihat Özdemir as well as a significant number of Turkish businessmen that also flew out for the occasion.
With the new terminal building and additional facilities going into operation, the current two million-passenger capacity of Kosovo's sole international airport will increase to five million.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Limak Holding Executive Board Chairman expressed the hopes that the Pristina Airport will experience the same success Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen International Airport has in recent years.
THE MOST MODERN AIRPORT IN THE BALKANS
After touring the Pristina Adem Jashari Airport, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, "Kosovo has now been given the most modern and beautiful airport in the Balkans. Investments in Kosovo by Turkey's private sector has now reached 335 million euros, while investments in our contracting sector have reached 800 million euros."
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that those present were witnessing a historical moment for Kosovo. Expressing how pleased he was to participate, Rama highlighted the close fraternal bonds between Albania and Turkey.
THIRD LARGEST AIRPORT IN THE REGION
The new terminal building and addition facilities, the result of a 140 million euro investment, were built based on a modern architectural design and is an environmentally friendly 'smart' building. With a total 610 employees, over the years the Pristina international airport has been on a rising trend, ranking the airport third in annual passengers amongst airports in ex-Yugoslavian countries, following the Belgrade and Zagreb airports.
ELECTRICITY TO ALSO COME FROM TURKEY
Nihat Özdemir also announced that following the airport investment, a partnership formed between Çalık and Limak will provide all of Kosovo's electricity distribution services within 2013. Özdemir also added that by investing 300 million euros into the system within the next 15 years, the infrastructure of the power grid will be brought up to European standards.
This is a translation of an article originally written by Yasemin Salih.
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