Ulaanbaatar Will Have New Airport by 2015

ULAANBAATAR will have a new international airport by 2015. This will be built with Japanese assistance in Khoshigt valley in Tov aimag, at a place close to Zuunmod, the aimag center, which is about 54 kilometers from the capital.

Japanese Ambassador Yasuyoshi Ichihashi has said that his Government will be giving a 40-year loan of US$270 million to help fund the construction work. The interest rate of the loan will be 0.2 percent and repayment will begin only after 10 years will be freed from loan payment, according to the embassy official.

The airport construction together with high speed motorway that connects Ulaanbaatar with the airport are expected to be started in 2011 and be completed in four years.

Mongolia proposed Japan to project for the construction of a new airport as yen loan during Koizumi’s visit in Ulaanbaatar in 2006.
In 2004, Government talked with some international banks US$900 million project on building the airport for Ulaanbaatar in the same place. But no construction had yet begun on this project.

Since the late 1990s, international air traffic to Mongolia has been increasing, and it is expected that the rate will continue to increase at a rapid rate. Weather conditions, fog in particular, some of it due to Ulaanbaatar's severe air pollution, and limited airport capacity are often a severe hindrance to operations at the Ulaanbaatar airport.