ARDABIL Governor General of Ardabil Province Hamid Tahaei announced here Thursday that following cabinet approval, Ardabil airport has been transformed into an international airport and air links with foreign countries will shortly be established from the airport. He told IRNA that efforts are underway to use the airport to take pilgrims for the minor pilgrimage to Mecca at the beginning of the next Iranian year which starts on March 21 1999. Customs, passport offices as well as the offices conducting other formalities for international flights have been set up at the airport, he said.

If conditions permit, Tahaei said, in the future, the airport will be used for flights to Baku and Dubai while negotiations have been held to operate flights to Mashhad and Kish. He announced that the airport's passenger terminal is being completed and the projects to install lighting system for the runway and construction of the refueling station have been implemented. One of the major problems facing the airport, he said, is the cancellation of flights due to fog.

He hoped this problem will be solved with the installation of necessary equipment. The cabinet has approved 1.5 billion rials for the purchase of the equipment and a further one billion rials will be met through public assistance, he said. The airport at Parsabad Moghan which was operated by the Ministry of Agriculture was recently taken over by the Civil Aviation Organization, stated Tahaei. The organization has begun implementing its preliminary projects to upgrade the airport and regular flights will soon be established between Moghan and Tehran, he pointed out.

On the problems relating to roads linking the province to other parts of the country, the governor general said the projects to build freeways is currently being studied by the Ministry of Roads and Transportation. These include the Ardabil-Neer-Mianeh and the Ardabil-Khalkhal-Sarcham routes. (IRNA)