An American company is laying a 1-meter thick steel reinforced concrete runway in Odesa, strong enough to take jets from as far away as London, Dubai and New York.

An American company is laying a 1-meter thick steel reinforced concrete runway in Odesa, strong enough to take jets from as far away as London, Dubai and New York. Iowa-based GOMACO, which has paved runways in Atlanta, Chicago and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, is laying the 2,800-meter runway as part of a $9 million project to upgrade southern Ukraine’s most important airport. With long range Boeings and Airbus able to land at Odesa, airport officials predict passenger traffic will increase by 50% next year, Ukrinform reports. The airport also is installing modern runway lights, radio navigation, and weather equipment to upgrade its certified approach category to level III under International Civil Aviation Organization standards.