Two weeks from today, on July 16, Odesa is to inaugurate its new 2.8 km reinforced concrete runway, long enough to handle long haul, transcontinental jets

. The day before, the airport will be closed all day July 15 to prepare for switching to the new runway. Delays in opening the runway gave the airport time to receive from Germany four telescopic bridges that will allow passengers to walk directly from jets to the terminal.