DUSHANBE, March 20, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- An official ceremony of laying the foundation stone of a new international terminal at the Dushanbe airport took place on March 19.

According to Dushanbe International Airport press center, the ceremony was attended by senior representatives from diplomatic missions accredited in Tajikistan, heads of public institutions and representatives of media.

Inaugurating the ceremony, Tajik Minister of Transport, Nizom Hakimov, noted that construction of the modern international terminal at the Dushanbe airport had become possible due to participation of France in that project.

France’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Didier Leroy, for his part, noted that French specialists had upgraded the Dushanbe airport’s infrastructure.  “France will provide assistance to Tajikistan with development of its aviation sphere in the future as well,” Ambassador Leroy noted.

The press center notes that an estimated budget for construction of the terminal is 39 million euros, including 20 million euros provided by Dushanbe International Airport and 19 euros cotrbuted to the project by the French side.

Currently, 10 French specialists and 131 Tajik builders are working at the site for construction of the international terminal, which is expected to be finished in 2014.

French company, VINCI, is the general contractor for construction of the new terminal at Dushanbe International Airport.

According to information posted on VINCI’s website, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and VINCI Airports (VINCI Concessions) signed the €39m design-build contract for a new terminal at Dushanbe International Airport with the DIA (Dushanbe International Airport) company on April 27, 2012.  Responding to a need for increased capacity at the airport, the new terminal will be able to handle 1.5 million passengers a year.  It will provide top-quality services to passengers and airlines, in line with international standards.  VINCI Construction Grands Projets is charged with the design and construction of the building, as well as supplying the operating equipment and systems.  VINCI Airports, for its part, will be assisting the client with the functional definition of the terminal (organization of flows, operational equipment and systems specifications), assisting the airport teams during the planning and works stages, training staff and assisting with the commissioning of the terminal.  The works will be carried out within a period of 23 months.

The overall space of the international terminal at the Dushanbe airport is expected to be 11,000 square meters and it will able to receive more than 5,000 passengers per hour.  Specialists say the project will bring the Dushanbe airport up to international air traffic standards.

VINCI Construction Grands Projets possesses end-to-end expertise in the creation of complex infrastructure.  Throughout the world, VINCI Construction Grands Projets designs and builds major civil engineering structures (tunnels, bridges, dams, liquefied natural gas storage tanks, road and rail infrastructure) and buildings (skyscrapers, shopping centers, hotels, major industrial facilities, nuclear power plants, etc.).

VINCI Airports, a key player in the airport sector, is currently operating and developing 12 airports, primarily under public service outsourcing contracts, including three in Cambodia since 1995 and nine in France.  Each airport has specific management and a specific development plan tailored to local needs, while benefiting from the synergies generated by the VINCI Airports model.