Donetsk International Airport is sited in Donetsk, Ukraine, a few kilometres to the north-west of the city centre. There are connections across Russia, European destinations such as Barcelona, Munich, Athens, Frankfurt, Vienna and Istanbul, and the Middle East cities of Dubai, Beirut and Tel Aviv.
The airport has a single runway, 08/26, which is 8,150ft (2,484m) long, and a single terminal building that was rebuilt in 1973. The terminal hosts international departures on the first floor and national departures on the ground floor.
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As Ukraine and Poland are to jointly host the 2012 European football championships, the Government of the Ukraine is now making the reconstruction of its regional airports a priority and Donetsk is one of these (Euro football matches will be hosted in the city)..
Donetsk refurbishment
The authorised budget for the refurbishment and improvement of the airport’s facilities is $205m and the project began in November 2007 ($40m of the budget has been allocated).
The work includes a terminal expansion and improvement to international standards so that it can handle 1,000 passengers an hour (five million passengers a year).
The airport also received aircraft refuelling equipment, baggage and cargo handling equipment, flight information systems, a CCTV security system, escalators and elevators. Improvements were made to the primary runway, which was extended to 4,000m (completed in 2009). Construction of the new runway started in February 2007 and was completed in July 2011 at a cost of $120m. The new runway is 4,000m long and 60m wide.
In addition, a 500,000m2 apron space will be laid near the terminal for ground maintenance and servicing, and a new open-air car park space for 600 cars. The airport hotel, Polet, will also be refurbished to European standards.
Construction of a new terminal started in 2009. The new terminal will cover 50,000m2 and have a capacity to handle more than 1,800 passengers an hour. The general contractor for the project is Altcom.
Construction of a new aerodrome control tower is underway and will become operational in 2012. A 51m airport dispatcher tower was built in October 2011.
Runway contract
Siemens subsidiary ADB NV/SA, of Zaventem, Belgium, received an order from the Regional Administration of Donetsk, Ukraine, to provide airfield equipment to the airport in 2007. ADB will be the general contractor supplier of airfield lighting technology and radar systems.
Secondary Radar Systems of Moscow will supply weather observation stations, noise and air pollution monitoring systems and instrument landing system equipment.
Refurbishment of the primary runway was completed in December 2009. The runway received flashing lights, approach lights, touchdown zone lighting, precision approach path indicators (PAPI), a runway centreline and edge lights to bring it up to CAT III and CAT I standards. The taxiways were equipped with over 1,000 LED lights and guidance signage.
The project also added constant current regulators, transformers, cabling, individual lamp control systems for the stop bar, rapid exit and lead-on lights, diesel generators, UPS and low-voltage switchboards.
An integrated airfield lighting control system was also installed. ATM Insight of the Ukraine supported ADB with site management, commissioning and training.
Security of movement
Indra, one of the best known IT companies in Spain, was awarded the contract to supply, implement and start up a surface control and surveillance system for Donetsk airport in mid-2007.
The system allows controllers to visualise the movement of aircraft, vehicles and obstacles in the runways, regardless of weather conditions.
It consists of a surface movement radar with a high resolution of approximately 6m. The radar is regarded as extremely reliable with low maintenance, which significantly reduces lifecycle costs.
