Azerbaijan’s Alat free zone plans to boost cargo airport capacity to 2 mln tonnes

A cargo airport being developed in Azerbaijan’s Alat Free Economic Zone will have an initial capacity of 500,000 tonnes of freight per year, rising gradually to at least 2 million tonnes annually, the zone’s chairman Valeh Alasgarov said.

Alasgarov said the airport’s location within the free economic zone would streamline customs and transit procedures and help integrate air freight with nearby maritime and rail transport links.

He also said higher-than-expected investor demand had prompted the zone to start developing infrastructure and utilities on an additional 138 hectares 18 months ahead of the original schedule. The industrial land is now ready for investors, he said.

For the same reason, the master plan and detailed design for a further 264 hectares earmarked for heavy industry were completed two years ahead of schedule, Alasgarov said.

The Alat Free Economic Zone opened to investors in mid-2023 after infrastructure work on the first 60 hectares was completed.