This morning, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, being on a working visit to the Balkan velayat, flew by helicopter from Turkmenbashi city and arrived in Balkanabat town. Hero-Arkadag visited the construction site of the new international airport in Jebel village, where he got acquainted with the progress of large-scale work.

As it is known from history, in ancient times, the Great Silk Road passed through the territory of Turkmenistan, connecting Asia and Europe through trade and cultural relations. Currently, under the leadership of the President of Turkmenistan, our state, located at an important crossroads of continental roads, attaches great importance to the development of transport and transit corridors, which indicates the revival of ancient communication routes in new historical conditions.

As part of a working visit to the Balkan velayat, Hero-Arkadag arrived at the site where the construction of the Balkanabat International Airport is continuing at a dynamic pace in order to get acquainted with the large-scale construction. Advanced experience and innovative technologies are actively used in the construction of the new airport, which plays an important role in increasing the country’s transport and transit potential and the volume of cargo and passenger transportation.

Here, Hero-Arkadag got acquainted with the features of the runway of the international airport, the strength and durability of the materials used in construction. It was built in accordance with modern requirements and international standards in force in this industry.

Emphasizing that the transport and communications industry is one of the most important in the global economy and in the field of trade, Hero-Arkadag noted that the new airport is of particular importance for the integration of our country into the world economic space and solving the problems of sustainable economic development.

In this regard, it should be noted the importance for all mankind of the positive initiatives of our country, widely supported by the international community. A clear confirmation of this is the relevant Resolutions unanimously adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

During the visit to the international airport by Hero-Arkadag, the construction of which is in the final stage, an airplane landed here to test the runway. This test landing became a visible confirmation of the high quality of the construction of the runways and their compliance with international standards.

Currently, as a result of the successful achievement of the high goals initiated by Hero-Arkadag under the wise leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan, which has an advantageous geographical location, is striving to increase the potential of transport and transit corridors. All this creates the preconditions for the development of a multimodal transport and transit infrastructure in the country that meets international standards and unites all types of transport, including air traffic.

Hero-Arkadag inquired about the equipment of the associated facilities available on the territory of the new airport, the features of their location. Equipping the facilities in accordance with modern requirements is of particular importance in ensuring the smooth operation of all airport structures.

Noting the regular increase in domestic air traffic in the country in recent years, Hero-Arkadag emphasized that the new airport will provide excellent service to passengers coming to the Mollagara Sanatorium for rest and health improvement.

Our compatriots arriving here, thanks to the location of the international airport in Jebel village, will be able to quickly reach the resort, being visible in all its glory from the air harbor.

Then Hero-Arkadag got acquainted with the existing complexes of buildings on the territory of the Balkanabat International Airport and the features of their equipment, as well as its capabilities.

In recent years, under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, large-scale work has been carried out in our country to improve the material and technical base of civil aviation, replenish its fleet with new aircraft, train highly qualified specialists for the industry, build and reconstruct existing airports. This is a clear result of the efforts undertaken in our country to revive the Great Silk Road in a new format.

Modernization of the civil aviation sector is one of the priority areas of the state policy of the President of the country. Thus, in a short period of time, international air harbors equipped with modern apparatus and fully complying with world standards have been put into operation in the capital, Turkmenbashi and Turkmenabat cities.

Despite the fact that not much time has passed since the opening of the international airport in Kerki town in the Lebap velayat, today the construction of another modern airport in the Balkan velayat is in its final stages. This is the result of work aimed at constructively resolving issues of international passenger and cargo transportation in our country.

It should be noted that in April 2015, an intergovernmental agreement on air traffic between Turkmenistan and Luxembourg was signed. In this regard, Europe’s largest airline, Cargolux, began carrying out cargo transportation on the Luxembourg-Turkmenbashi route.

During this period, the total volume of transit cargo, taking into account the three months of 2025, amounted to 417,340 tons, and the number of landings of transit aircraft was more than 5,960.

In addition, the implementation of international transportation through our territory along the international transport corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) and the transport and transit corridors Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkiye is another confirmation of the increase in the authority of Turkmenistan in the world arena.

At the initiative of Turkmenistan, international forums were held aimed at increasing the potential of transport and transit corridors and constructively resolving the problems existing in this area. These include the High-Level International Conference on International Cooperation in Sustainable Transport held in 2014, which resulted in the adoption of the Ashgabat Declaration, and the first Global Conference on Sustainable Transport held in 2016. All this underlines the importance of transport diplomacy in Turkmenistan’s foreign policy. This is confirmed by the activities carried out under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who successfully implements the initiatives of the Hero-Arkadag, including the construction of international airports, which are an important component of the national transport system.

It should be noted that the UN General Assembly, at the initiative of Turkmenistan, adopted such historic Resolutions as “The role of transport and transit corridors in ensuring international cooperation for sustainable development”, “Towards ensuring comprehensive interaction between all modes of transport to promote the creation of sustainable multimodal transit corridors”, “World Sustainable Transport Day” and “Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”.

The implementation of the new airport project in Jebel village will strengthen the position of the Fatherland as an important transport and logistics center of regional and continental significance. All this will ensure the consistent integration of Turkmenistan into the world transport system.

Our country, advantageously located at the crossroads of Central Asia and Europe, takes a responsible approach to the development of transport and logistics services between the countries of the region and the continent, improves the material and technical base of the national transport infrastructure, and consistently increases transport and transit potential.

The large-scale work carried out under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov in the era of the Revival of the new epoch of the powerful state to create favorable conditions for the reliability of international transport corridors turns Turkmenistan into an important link in continental routes.

The Turkmen state strives to use its transport and transit potential in the common interests. In this regard, great importance is attached to intensifying interaction with authoritative international organizations and structures. Our country also promotes the further development of cooperation in developing balanced solutions to pressing issues of our time.

Then Hero-Arkadag got acquainted with the presented projects of the new airport facilities and their equipment.

Chairman of the Türkmenhowaýollary Agency D. Saburov informed Hero-Arkadag about the projects, including the construction of the new airport and the features of the facilities.

As noted, in addition to the runway on the territory of the new airport, there are access roads, hangars for aircraft parking, passenger terminals, a control tower, checkpoints, rescue and fire-fighting facilities, technical buildings, water reservoirs, a facility designed to ensure the smooth operation of the lighting and warning system, a radio engineering system station, a cargo area, a terminal and other specialized buildings.

Noting the need to keep the work carried out here under constant control, Hero-Arkadag emphasized that ensuring their high quality and timely completion of the construction of facilities are designated among the priority requirements. In this regard, a responsible and comprehensive approach to the issues of equipping buildings and training specialists is necessary.

Hero-Arkadag wished everyone success in fulfilling the assigned tasks to increase the pace of construction of the Balkanabat International Airport, properly improve the adjacent territories and provide high-level service here.

Then Hero-Arkadag, having completed his working visit to the Balkan velayat, departed for the capital.

After some time, the airliner of Hero-Arkadag landed at the international air harbor of the capital, where the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Hero-Arkadag was warmly welcomed.