Oral International Airport was a dull white building with only two floors that stood in the middle of an open field. One could have mistaken it for any other public service building if not for the people entering and leaving the premise while clutching their suitcases and patting their pockets to make sure their passports were still there.
Since its opening in 1933, not much had been going on with the airport. But it all changed in 2019 when it was announced that the venue was going to get a radical make-over.
A fresh look
According to Social-entrepreneurial Corporation AQJAIYQ, Uralsk airport has been operating since 1933. The terminal building was built in 1979 and has not been repaired since then.
Physical wear of the terminal accounted for more than 75%, and the building was not designed to serve international flights. Naturally, the poorly developed infrastructure provided little comfort for passengers and desperately required modernization of the security and inspection of passengers and luggage.
The reconstruction project launched in 2019 planned to increase the terminal area from 4.5 thousand square meters to 7 thousand, expand the terminal's capacity from 200 to 400 passengers per hour, and passenger throughput (average quantity of cargo and passengers that can pass through a port at a given time) from 160 to 350 thousand people a year.
The project also provided for the modernization of technological equipment of the terminal that meets international security standards and requirements of border and customs control.
The initiator of the project is JSC " SEC "Oral" with the source of funding being Karachaganak petroleum operating. The contractor is LLP "Kaz Construction Group".
Before the pandemic, the project was due to finish by the end of 2020. The cost was estimated to be 2.4 billion tenge.
In the memory of a war hero
At the end of 2021, news sources announced that the reconstruction of the aiport which added up to 6.6 million tenge was reaching the finish line with some additional touches to be made.
The remnants of the previous drab construction are nowhere to be found.
"The previous airport terminal building from 1979 was not dilapidated, so we originally wanted to renovate it and add another building to it as an extension. The main goal was to expand. But when the excavation and construction work began, it turned out that it was not safe to continue building according to the old design, so we redid the project and it turned out that we had to build a new building."
Even before it was officially finished, the airport already bore the name of Manshuk Mametova. But the recent government decree sealed the deal.
A decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 18, 2022 states "To grant the name of Manshuk Mametova to the limited liability partnership "Oral International Airport".
Giving the name of Manshuk Mametova was the most prudent, if not obvious, choice for many reasons.
As most people are aware, Manshuk Mametova is a native of the West Kazakhstan region and a commended hero who fought in the Second World War. On August 13, 1942, she volunteered to go to the frontline. She participated in battles as part of the 100th infantry brigade and 21st infantry division. She was a senior sergeant and commander of the machine gun artillery division. On October 16, 1943, in a battle near the city of Nevel, she managed to quell an enemy attack with her machine gun, earning her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
As for when the airport will be fully operational, the authorities point to September of this year. All the systems are still being tested.
It's winter, and it's important for people to be comfortable. [At present] we can test all the systems for durability. According to the agreement with the contractors, their deadline for commissioning is September 2022, until then, the airport is unlikely to have additional flights. But after that, there will be efforts to attract new airlines."