US government to assist modernization of Kyrgyz aero-navigation infrastructure

The embassy said that the government had assigned $30 million for the project, which would upgrade control over the Kyrgyz airspace and aircraft routes that go through Kyrgyzstan. Radio contact between aircraft and air traffic controllers will be ensured throughout the national territory, the embassy said.

The new tower will be built at the Bishkek Manas International Airport, where the coalition base was deployed in 2001. Most of the base personnel are U.S. servicemen.

In contrast with the old tower, the new one will have full visual control of landing and taking off aircraft, the runway and the adjoining territory, the embassy said.

The coalition base gives support to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Kyrgyz authorities decided to close the base in 2009 but held extensive consultations with Washington and eventually renamed the base into the transit center, which annually transships hundreds of tonnes of cargo and tens of thousands of servicemen on their way to and from Afghanistan.