Portorož Airport terminal to be overhauled or demolished
The terminal building of Slovenia’s second busiest airport - Portorož - will either be closed and overhauled or completely demolished and rebuilt as it is sinking, the operator said. “We have received the results of a geomechanical survey of the soil, which shows that the passenger terminal is gradually caving in, however, the owner has not yet decided whether it will overhaul the structure or have it demolished and built anew”, an airport spokesperson told the “Delo” daily. Hotel Palace Portorož, which belongs to the MK Group from Serbia, is the airport’s single-largest shareholder. Co-owners include the Municipality of Piran (just over 36%) and the CPK company (10%). The Municipality of Piran explained that at a depth of over ten metres beneath the terminal building there is a layer of weak load-bearing and compressible marine sediment making an overhaul of the terminal necessary but very difficult.
Portorož Airport has been striving to extend its runway in order to accommodate larger aircraft and begin handling scheduled flights. The MK Group has said it is willing to invest between 2.5 and three million euros into the extension, however, so far, it has been unable to obtain the necessary approvals for the project which is strongly opposed by environmentalists as the airport is surrounded by the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, which is home to 270 bird species. Furthermore, the government has been unable to adopt a new spatial plan for the area for the better part of the past decade. The Slovenian Ministry for Infrastructure has reaffirmed its commitment to enabling the airport to expand and has said it is working on adopting a new spatial plan.
Built in 1962, Portorož Airport boasts a passenger terminal, duty free shop, as well as technical and fuel services. Last year it handled a record 30.743 passengers despite having no scheduled passenger flights. "Portorož has the potential to further develop and increase its number of foreign visitors. That is why we want to develop the airport. We want to promote Portorož as a high-end destination and it is in our interest to boost the number of flights in order for the airport to work at full capacity", the operator previously said.
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