In 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.

According to the Minister, a road and rail network could be developed in the region to serve the intermodal hub, including the restoration and expansion of main road No. 83, which has been planned independently as well. Csaba Hende stressed that the government is committed to the implementation of a regional economic development program, of which the road and rail network developments under way in the region and the establishment of the connection to inland waters navigation on the River Danube form an important part. All these infrastructural developments will enable the region in every respect to attract further investments worth one billion euros in the fields of automotive, electronics and machinery industries, which would create around 25,000 jobs. Csaba Hende noted that the issue of establishing a cargo airport was dragging on for a long time in the region.

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.

(Honvedelem.hu/MTI)