The President, in particular, observed the airport’s new air traffic control centre. Transport Minister Igor Levitin, who accompanied the President on the visit, said that 15 similar modern new centres will be built in Russia. Under the common air traffic management modernisation programme, Russia’s airspace will be divided into 12 zones instead of the current 120. Rather than coming under the control of each successive airport’s air traffic control centres, planes flying over Russian territory will be controlled by 12 main control centres, which will improve safety and simplify coordination between pilots and ground control services. Furthermore, the construction of large airports will help to develop transit routes via Russia.
Mr Medvedev visited Academia City, a new residential district currently under construction in Yekaterinburg, looked around buildings completed so far and visited one of the newly built apartments. The new district is the biggest such project in the country undertaken as part of the Affordable Housing National Project, and it is the biggest urban development project currently underway in Europe. The new district is designed for a population of 325,000.
Construction sector development and the situation on the regional labour market were the subjects on the agenda at the meeting with Eduard Rossel.