Pápa Air Base Will Be Suitable for Receiving Civil and Military Aircraft
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2012. október 29. 14:09In a session held on Wednesday, October 24 the government of Hungary – following coordination with NATO – decided that the Pápa Air Base will be upgraded to a mixed-use, intermodal logistic hub, which will be suitable for receiving both civil and military transport aircraft. Minister of Defence Csaba Hende announced the decision on Friday, October 26 at a press conference held near Hegyfalu, Vas County, along the M86 main road under construction.
The Minister explained that the Pápa Air Base is currently a cargo airport which has so far served exclusively military purposes. He told the press that the necessary coordination with NATO had taken place, and the town of Pápa welcomed the development concept too.
Speaking at a press conference held jointly with the mayor of the town in Pápa, Zoltán Kovács, the government representative of Veszprém County said that the installation was suitable for receiving any aircraft. Many conditions are given for civil aviation, such as the air traffic control system, the border entry control and the customs administration facilities, which are all available. So far around HUF 15 billion has been spent on the military capability development of the air base, but the now announced investment “will certainly have a larger volume than that". The Pápa airport will be a forward base of European air refueling capability, as it will be suitable for receiving C-17 airlifters as well as Airbus A330-300 multi-role transport airplanes and C5 Galaxy strategic transport aircraft.
Photo: www.nspa.nato.int