Airside Area
Year of completion 2023
This project is co-financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund.
Airside Area
Enjoy our new airport!
In order to make the cosiest airport in the world a good place to arrive to and take off from to discover the world, it is important to continuously develop and expand it to increase the airport’s capacity, decrease its impact on the environment and improve aviation safety.
Environment
- We built snow-melting sites that meet environmental requirements.
- We built a system for extracting and monitoring snow-melting water, rainwater and de-icing fluids.
- We restored and expanded the drainage canal systems to resolve issues related to excess rainwater.
- We built an additional aircraft de-icing area to improve the environmental condition.
- We built new purging sites and fire water hydrants and installed oil separators.
- We seasonally separate meltwaters from snow storage areas and redirect it into the sewage.
- We built noise barriers around the engine testing area.
Capacity
- We extended the runway to 3480 metres.
- We reconstructed the pavement.
- We improved the system of taxiways and aircraft aprons.
- We built a runway shoulder that complies with requirements.
- We built new taxiways on the southern side and expanded apron K.
- We built the final configuration of the eastern de-icing area with a taxiway connecting to the runway.
Safety
- We installed higher category approach lights and navigation systems.
- During construction, we replaced the airport lighting system with one that is more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and updated the lighting control system.
- We built a testing area for aircraft engines that complies with safety requirements.
- We reinforced the runway strip.
- We built a new perimeter fence and reconstructed the perimeter roads.
- We improved the taxiway, apron and general aviation areas.
- We cleared the forest in the limited management zone to reduce the obstruction area in order to improve the reliability of ILS.
Improvement of the environment and aviation safety of the Tallinn Airport airside area
Project no: 2014-2020.10.01.003.01.15-00
Construction work at Tallinn Airport started in 2016 and the development continued from 2019-2021. The work is due to be completed in 2023.
The objectives of the large-scale project, which is co-financed from the Cohesion Fund, are focused on improving the environmental activities of Tallinn Airport and increasing air safety and the capacity of the airport. The construction work of the development project for the airside area and the acquisition of maintenance and rescue equipment are co-financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund.
The total cost of the project carried out from 2012-2023 is 74 million euros, of which the Cohesion Fund co-finances eligible activities in the amount of 35 million euros.
The cost of construction work of stage I is approx. 34 million euros.
Construction work was performed by YIT Eesti AS.
The cost of construction work of stage II is approx. 24 million euros.
Construction work was performed by KMG Inseneriehituse AS and Verston OÜ.
Taalri Varahaldus AS provided the FIDIC engineering and owner supervision service for both construction projects.
The preliminary design was prepared and the environmental impact assessment was carried out by Ramboll Eesti AS (2013-2015). The design solutions of construction stage II were provided by AS K-Projekt (2018-2019).
The development of the southern areas of the airport is part of the general development plan of Tallinn Airport. It sets out that new aircraft service hangars and cargo areas will be established in these areas in the future. New developments will help increase the capacity of the airport by giving the apron area around the terminal completely for servicing passengers.
Construction stage I, 2016-2017
At the end of 2017, the first construction stage of the Tallinn Airport project was completed. During this stage, the 20-year-old pavement of the existing runway was reconstructed, the runway was extended, the runway strip reinforced and the system of taxiways and aircraft apron areas was improved. To improve the environmental condition, an additional aircraft de-icing area was constructed in the eastern part of the airport, snow-melting sites meeting environmental requirements were constructed, the construction of systems for redirecting and monitoring snow-melting water began and an appropriate engine testing area and a firefighting training site were built.
Construction stage II, 2019-2021
The development of the airside area continued from 2020-2021. The completed works included the construction of a new apron area (apron K) on the southern side of Tallinn Airport, new taxiways Z, H, T, HL, HR, the expansion of the eastern de-icing area and the completion of an appropriate engine testing area. An improved airfield lighting system and lighting control system were successfully implemented.
One of the main objectives of the Cohesion Fund project is to improve the environmental condition of the airport and the project also includes the construction of extremely large-scale and complex rainwater systems. The works completed so far have included the construction of new drainage canals, rainwater collection systems and a new rainwater pumping station. The reconstruction of rainwater systems will contribute to eliminating the issue of excess rainwater on the airport’s territory, which in turn will prolong the service life of utility networks and preserve the quality of the newly built infrastructure.
In addition to rainwater systems, the rainwater gutters of the aprons have been reconstructed, several oil separators have been installed on the airport’s territory, new purging sites have been constructed and new fire hydrants have been installed. These construction works allow for the seasonal separation of meltwater from the new snow storage areas and directing it to the sewage system. The RWY 26 de-icing area, the channeling of TWY H de-icing fluids in accordance with environmental requirements and the noise barriers installed around the new engine testing area deserve mention.
Another part of the project is the construction of a new southern access road which is based on the terms and conditions established in the detailed plan of the southern area and ensures public access to the southern areas of the airport.
In addition to the extension of the airside area, a warehouse for storing and handling the airport’s de-icing chemicals was built in 2021, and various maintenance and rescue service equipment was acquired from 2018-2020:
- runway maintenance equipment;
- self-propelled snow blower;
- chemical spreader;
- runway vacuum cleaning set;
- equipment set for moving stationary aircraft;
- fire and rescue vehicle;
- mobile device for measuring luminous intensity of lights.
The development project of the airside area is one of the largest investment projects of Tallinn Airport in the last decade. The works will last until 2023 when the construction of the rainwater systems and other utility lines in the southern areas will continue and the lighting system of the apron area will be reconstructed.
