US embassy cable - 05ALMATY427

UNCLAS ALMATY 000427 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE, MO'MARA) 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EAIR, PGOV, PREL, KZ, ECONOMIC 
SUBJECT: Nazarbayev Opens New Astana International Airport 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: President Nazarbayev presided with great 
fanfare at the February 2 opening ceremony of the new Astana 
international airport.  The new facility, with a reported 
operational date of February 9, offers significantly more 
space than the current terminal.  The balloons and band, 
however, could not entirely mask the simmering tensions over 
the government's plans to designate Astana as Kazakhstan's 
sole international hub in October 2005 or the concerns 
expressed about the terminal's structural stability.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) On February 2, President Nazarbayev christened 
Astana's new airport, calling on international carriers to 
make Astana "a transit point between Europe and the Far 
East, southeastern Asia and the Middle East."  According to 
airport staff, the terminal will become operational on 
February 9. 
 
3. (U) Construction of the $216 million multi-story airport 
began in September 2002 and represents a significant 
expansion over the space and capacity of the current 
airport.  Built by a Japanese-led consortium, the airport 
facade is largely glass and steel with an atrium decorated 
in traditional Kazakh motifs. 
 
4. (U) The airport is designed to handle up to 750 
passengers at peak hours and 600 tons of air cargo per day. 
Runway service includes An-124s and Boeing 747s.  The 
Ministry of Transportation and Communications projects that 
the new terminal will service approximately 15,000 flights 
in 2005 - nearly 2,000 more than in 2004. 
 
5. (SBU) The airport's new design has come in for some 
criticism.  On January 28, the local paper "Karavan" 
reported that doubts had emerged about the terminal's 
stability after a load-bearing column buckled in December 
2003.  Siemens employees have privately expressed concern 
about the impact of Astana's swampy ground on the 
glass/steel frame as the terminal begins to settle, and 
about the ability of the glass/steel to withstand the area's 
extreme weather that can range from minus mid-twenties to 
one hundred degrees (Fahrenheit).  (Note:  Siemens was a 
subcontractor on the new airport project.  End note.) 
 
6. (SBU) Comment:  The government's intention to direct all 
international flights via Astana beginning October 2005 
remains a sore point with western carriers, particularly 
Lufthansa.  The German Principal Officer in Astana told us 
that Lufthansa will pull out of Kazakhstan if forced to re- 
direct flight from Almaty -- already an unprofitable route 
that Lufthansa expects would go even further into the red if 
switched over to Astana.  Kazakhstani officials have 
blustered and obfuscated when confronted in recent 
economic/business forums about the likely consequences of 
forcing western carriers to operate out of Astana.  It is 
not clear whether Kazakhstani officials understand that an 
international carrier's bottom line may be just as important 
as the will of the president in this matter.  End Comment. 
 
ORDWAY 
 
 
NNNN