September 24 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's Federation government said it is raising its support for the development of Bihac Airport to 5.535 million marka ($3.1 million/2.8 million euro) from 3.535 million marka allocated initially.
The decision for the increase is in line with an amendment to the Federation's 2019 budget bill, which allows for more funding to support the development of domestic air transport, the government said in a statement last week.
Back in May, the government allocated a total of 10.6 million marka to three airports on its territory - the international airntly rts in Tuzla and Mostar, and the airport in Bihac, each receiving 3.535 million marka.
Bihac, in northwestern Bosnia, currently has only a small sport airport. In 2016, the Federation decided to work towards building a bigger airport for civilian flights to help boost the economy of the region.
As part of the project, in July, Sarajevo-based engineering company Euro-Asfalt started construction works on a new 300-metre test runway section at Bihac Airport. The total value of the works is some 2 million marka.
According to earlier media reports, the construction of Bihac Airport could be completed in two to four years, requiring an estimated investment of some 100 million marka, including all infrastructure works and road connections.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)