Khrabrovo Airport (Kaliningrad) General Director Viktor Titarev has announced the facility is seeking to become Russia’s second airport with free access to foreign carriers (under a so called “open skies” policy). Currently, foreign carriers must obtain special permission to fly scheduled routes to Russian airports.

“We see several directions for Khrabrovo’s development. [They include] opening new flights to Russia and the E.U., and implementing the ‘open skies’ policy like in Vladivostok,” he said. According to Titarev, several international carriers are considering Khrabrovo as a transit hub for flights between Europe and China.

The airport is currently undergoing a $100 million makeover under a concept developed by Netherlands Airport Consultants B.V. which seeks to increase traffic from the current 1.2 million to 5 million annually. Nearby Riga airport already enjoys traffic of 4.7 million passengers annually. Avia.ru Editor-in-chief Roman Gusarov said that Khrabrovo’s beneficial geographic location would allow it to successfully compete with Scandinavian airports.

Under WTO rules, all Russian airports will implement a similar “open skies” policy within two years.

First published in Russian in Vedomosti.