Tengrinews.kz - Read about the annual passenger capacity of Almaty Airport.
The Civil Aviation Committee provided details in response to an inquiry from Tengrinews.kz.
"On June 1, a new passenger terminal with an area of 53,500 square meters was launched. It can accommodate around 7 million passengers per year. With the renovation of the existing terminal (connected by an elevated walkway), the combined capacity of Almaty Airport will increase to 14 million passengers per year," reported the committee.
To put this into perspective, 7 million passengers annually equates to about 20,000 passengers daily.
The committee also assured that the new terminal is designed to withstand seismic activity.
"It is capable of withstanding an earthquake of up to 10 magnitude," the department confirmed.
However, a month after its opening, videos surfaced online showing water leaking from the ceiling onto rows of shops. This incident sparked discussion on social media.
Since the new terminal opened, the airport has faced various criticisms.
In August, social media users discussed an incident where airport staff reportedly left a passenger's cat outside, which she had been searching for days.
In September, another video showed passengers manually retrieving their luggage from the baggage area, which also sparked public outrage.
A separate incident that drew attention involved a photo from an airport café, where two cups of tea were shown on a receipt totaling 3,600 tenge.
Almaty’s akim, Erbolat Dossaev, noted that these issues have led to passenger dissatisfaction and hurt the airport's reputation.
On October 9, future upgrades for the airport were announced, including:
complete renovation of the left runway;modernization of aprons;updates to de-icing areas;upgrades to the airfield equipment fleet.
Parking is another issue. During peak hours, access to the airport can take up to 45 minutes, which "requires revising the current road infrastructure," according to city authorities.
As of early October 2024, there are 1,075 parking spaces at the airport.
Earlier, Kazakhstan began preparations to construct airports in three resort areas which will link these regions with Astana and Almaty.
