A new state-of-the-art airport has been inaugurated in Sohag. Amirah Ibrahim explores the new facility and the promising opportunities that await Upper Egypt After 25 years of requests to have an airport in their city, residents of Sohag finally got what they wanted. On Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated the new facility marking the fifth international airport that serves Upper Egypt. Mubarak was accompanied by top government officials including Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq, Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi, People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour as well as ministers of the interior, finance, information, tourism and investment. Built on 18 feddans, Sohag Airport is the second biggest airport in Egypt following Cairo International. It expands Upper Egypt's air transport capacity, being the fifth among airports in Assiut, Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel. "The cost is estimated at LE400 million, covering the construction of a terminal building, control apron, a new runway and 33 buildings allocated for services," said Major General Kamaleddin Hussein, head of the Armed Forces' engineering corps which carried out construction on the new facility. The airport is 25km south of Sohag and occupies the site of a military airport. The Armed Forces provided the location and financed the project. "We had to carry out the work in such a way that we could complete construction in 16 months instead of 48 months as was initially scheduled," Hussein said. Sohag Airport's capacity is 400 passengers per hour. The terminal building, a fascinating Pharaonic design, consists of two international halls for arrivals and departures, a VIP hall, duty-free shops and security gates. It is also provided with electricity, water, sewage and communication stations. The parking area is designated to handle 400 vehicles and 25 buses. The main runway is 3km in length and 45 metres wide with a tarmac which hosts six aircraft. Hussein revealed plans to expand the tarmac's capacity to 14 aircraft in the near future. The airport is due to operate under the supervision of the Aviation Authority. "It will serve civil transport; thus the Egyptian Airports Company will operate it within the airport network it controls which includes 22 other airports," Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq said. "The airport's runway is constructed at C-4 category which enables the airport to receive A320 aircraft, the most widely operated plane in the world. "It will serve our people in Upper Egypt together with nearby Assiut Airport. Both will carry mainly Egyptian labourers employed in the Gulf countries. The airport also will help boost investment projects and thus develop plans in Upper Egypt," Shafiq added. Because of poor transportation to Upper Egypt in general, passengers suffer long hours to reach Sohag. Now they are to be provided direct flights to their city. Selecting the suitable location was controversial, causing disputes between the government and farmers in nearby villages. As the Cabinet approved the construction of the airport, a technical committee headed by Aviation Minister Shafiq flew on several field trips to specify the best location for navigation and traffic. "The area chosen was army land. But to build an airport we should have extended the area to have the services buildings constructed," said Mohsen El-Nomani, Sohag's governor. "Unfortunately, the farmers refused to give up parts of the land they were cultivating though they do not posses them. The land belongs to the government," he added. According to Nomani, farmers were compensated with land on the other side of the city but remained unhappy, wanting more. Two weeks ago, farmers staged a sit-in at the Bar Association in Cairo to protest against receiving poor compensation for lands they have been reclaiming for 30 years. The farmers had hoped the airport would be constructed far from their land. Now, they hope to receive more compensation.
