Belarus’ transport minister talks about railroad construction plans, Belavia’s new flights

According to Aleksei Avramenko, two factors influence the situation with air communication. The major one is that not all the countries have come out of the pandemic yet. “It was a serious aviation crisis, given the restrictions in place. However, the demand for airline services is very high. The load on almost all the flights is close to 100%,” he said.

Speaking about the future plans, the minister mentioned Qatar in the first place. “We are working on this direction. It is interesting for us. We are also very interested in restoring communication with Russia, especially increasing the number of flights to St. Petersburg and Moscow. COVID-19 restrictions are still in place and the airline flies to St. Petersburg once a week. That is almost nothing given the current demand. It is important to gradually restore and increase the number of flights to the Russian Federation and other countries,” said Aleksei Avramenko.

The minister also spoke about the plans to construct a railroad to connect Minsk and the national airport. “The project is under development. We are preparing the corresponding calculations. We need some two years to design this section of the railway. First of all, it will be an additional track for the main one. The project will not only provide for launching an electric train to the airport but will also increase the traffic capacity of Minsk railway junction - a transit direction from west to east. We are also working on sources of financing. The decision will be based on the current market conditions,” the minister said.

The cost of the project will be known after the design and estimate documentation is ready.