Works for the expansion of the passenger terminal begin

Zg. Brnik, 18. 7. 2019 -  The new passenger terminal will eliminate bottlenecks and improve standards for both passengers and employees. The project, worth EUR 17.3 million, is planned to be carried out in two years. The structure, which will be built by GIC GRADNJE Company from Rogaška Slatina, was designed by the Plan B architectural office.

The passenger terminal is a development priority for the airport since the existing structure creates a bottleneck particularly during the summer season and during peak hours, when it already reaches its capacity limits. The provision of construction, fitting-out and installation works under the public procurement order was entrusted to GIC GRADNJE,  d.o.o., from Rogaška Slatina.

Fraport Slovenija and GIC GRADNJE signed a contract worth EUR 17.3 million on 27 June 2019, and the preparatory works began immediately after the contract was signed. Besides the preparation of the land and documentation and some demolition works, the preparatory works also include internal road network arrangement and redevelopment of some manoeuvring areas.

Within the framework of the passenger terminal expansion, the public procurement order for construction, fitting-out and installation works was the first and the most complex part of all. To complete the project, six more public procurements will be awarded, with a total estimated value of EUR 4 million.

The construction of the terminal was symbolically started by (from left to right): Ivan Cajzek, Director of GIC GRADNJE, Holger Schaefers, Chairman of the Investor's Committee of Fraport Slovenija and Zmago Skobir, Managing Director of Fraport Slovenija.

As Fraport Slovenija’s managing director, Zmago Skobir, explained at the presentation:  “These well-considered investments in infrastructure will improve standards for passengers and other airport users, while at the same time they will improve the competitive position of Ljubljana Airport. They show once again that Fraport is a strategic owner that keeps its word given at the time it entered the Slovenian market: to increase the volume of traffic, create new jobs and update the airport infrastructure in the long term.”

The new terminal will eliminate the bottlenecks of the existing infrastructure at Ljubljana Airport. The existing passenger terminal will be rearranged and reconstructed and will remain in use even after the new one is opened. 10,000 m² of new floor space will be added, including a new departure hall, 14 check-in desks (making 22 in total), five lines for security inspections and two baggage carousels in the first phase of reconstruction, with a new baggage sorting area, a large duty free shop, a new business salon, and renovated restaurants and promotion areas to follow. Capacity will be increased from 500 to 1,250 passengers per hour. The plan for the arrangement of outside areas in front of the terminal envisages green spaces, a spacious short-term parking area, and an adequate number of parking spaces for taxis, shuttles and buses. A corridor will connect the expanded new part with the existing areas and will be ready for use by the summer of 2021.

Ivan Cajzek, the director of the contractor implementing the construction, fitting-out and installation works, explained:  “The construction of the Brnik passenger terminal represents a special challenge for our company as it is difficult to build a large and complex structure of this type. Once the structure is successfully finished, it will be a new and important reference project in the line of successfully finished projects which we have carried out in the last 30 years. Long years of experience, our well-considered approach and our own well-trained workers ensure that the project will be carried out with high-quality works and by the required deadlines.”

The design for the new terminal was created by the Plan  B architectural office and combines visible concrete elements, glass and wood.

The passenger terminal will be the largest Fraport Slovenija investment in the next five years, though by no means the only one. This year and in the next four years, the company will invest more than EUR 40 million in the airport’s modernisation and equipment. Besides the new terminal, the key investments include the Fraport Aviation Academy opened in March, renovation of the business information system, a new interior roads network, a central energy facility, a hangar for ground-handling equipment, and renovation and expansion of fire and rescue department areas.

The traffic at the Ljubljana Airport has increased in the last five years by almost 30 per cent: from 1,338,619 passengers in 2014 to 1,818,229 in 2018. Volume is continuing to grow this year as well. In June, 188,662 passengers travelled through Ljubljana Airport, which is 6.7 per cent more than in June last year. The total number of passengers by the end of the first half of the year was 859,557, which is 3.4 per cent more than in the same period last year.  

Photos: Peter Irman
Renders: Plan B

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