Algeria has boosted the passenger capacity of its main international airport with the construction of a new runway, its Transport Minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

Youcef Chorfa said ‘Houari Boumediene Airport’ can now operate at full capacity of handling nearly 18.5 million passengers per year.

He was quoted by the Algerian Arabic language daily Elkhabar as saying that the runway project was needed to allow the airport to receive large aircraft, adding that there are plans by the Algerian Airlines to received 15 new large planes in the near future besides 10 others as an option.

“With the completion of this new runway, the airport can now operate at full capacity…this will make it one of the largest airports in the region,” the Minister said after launching the runway on Monday.

Chorfa said there are also plans to expand the capital’s metro for an expected increase in airport operations, adding that the project would start in the fourth quarter.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)