The first L-410 aircraft for Vitebsk Airlines will arrive next week

May 15, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The first L-410 aircraft for the Vitebsk airline will arrive at the airport of the same name within the next week, Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent. The implementation of the project to create an airline and build a transport and logistics center in the Vitebsk airport area began in mid-last year. The investor is the Czech company PDW Group s.r.o. The preliminary investment volume was about 50 million euros. In accordance with the agreement, the investor intends to create five specialized companies in Vitebsk. The airline will be equipped with L-410 aircraft manufactured in the Czech Republic, and the possibility of leasing other airliners is also being considered. One of the conditions of the agreement is the creation of a transport and logistics center in the Vitebsk airport area, as well as a service support company for Vitebsk airport. It is planned to build a hotel and modernize the airport terminal complex of Vitebsk airport, and develop additional services. According to Oleg Matskevich, initially the airline plans to start transporting passengers within Belarus, as well as to Kaliningrad. Answering the question about possible competition with a well-known Belarusian air carrier, the deputy chairman of the regional executive committee emphasized that competition is necessary in business and helps to develop. "Without competition, one sleeps better, but lives worse," he quoted a well-known saying. The creation of an airline and the construction of a transport and logistics center in the Vitebsk airport area, according to preliminary estimates, can provide annual additional budget revenues of more than $2 million from the development of air transportation. The implementation of the project will significantly increase the business and tourism potential of the Vitebsk region, and the construction and organization of a transport and logistics center in the airport area on an area of 35 hectares will stimulate the development of cargo transportation not only by air but also by land transport. -0-