Boa Vista International Airport will be officially opened on Wednesday, October 31, by Prime Minister José Maria Neves. The project cost a total of 2,310,000,000 escudos (some 21 million euros), and was financed by Airport and Air Security company ASA through a loan from Portuguese bank Banco Espírito Santo.

The runway of the new airport is 2,100 meters long and 45 meters wide and features a control tower, a passenger terminal with a capacity for 250 passengers per hour, and an aircraft parking platform with a capacity for two Boeing 737s or 757s or two Airbus A321s, as well as one ATR 42. The road linking Sal Rei to Rabil, where the airport is located, was also reconfigured and asphalted. The aircraft platform at Boa Vista’s “old” airport, which is still in use, will remain active as a platform for as many as four small-scale aircrafts on night stops or requiring long-term parking.

According to a press release from ASA, “this project comes as part of the government’s strategic program for the infrastructure sector, namely the modernization and development o fair transportation and tourism.”

The ceremony will begin at 11:50 am on Wednesday, October 31, and, in addition to the Prime Minister, will be attended by Boa Vista municipal chamber president José Pinto Almeida, ASA administrative council president Mário Paixão Lopes, and a representative of Banco Espírito Santo.

Source: A Semana