Penza, 22 February 2013. PenzaNews. Possibility of opening an international airport in Penza was discussed at a meeting of the minister of transport of Russia Maxim Sokolov and the head of the Penza region Vasily Bochkarev in Moscow on Friday, February 22.

The governor of the Penza region informed the minister that the need for international flights is primarily explained by the fact that a number of major investment projects with participation of foreign partners are being implemented in the region.

“In particular, these are the projects on development and production of multi-purpose medium-diesel engine with investment of over 1,9 billion rubles, on construction of a cement plant with investment of 10,950 million rubles, and also on construction of the plant of the mineral binding and construction materials with investment of over 10 billion rubles,” Vasily Bochkarev said.

“This brings us to the necessity to perform regular flights,” he added.

In turn, the minister of transport of Russia expressed his willingness to study the issue in detail in order to assess the feasibility of the project, reported the press service of the government of the Penza region.

As a part of the project on Penza international airport construction, it is planned to build a cargo storage terminal and a hotel for 200–250 people with service area. In addition, the airport is to provide facilities for public services and leisure as well as sports and recreation zone.