TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsTurkmenistan, low on visitors, opens striking new airport
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A view of the new international airport terminal outside Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. (AP/File)
T
he capital of Turkmenistan, a country largely closed to outsiders, has opened a $2.3 billion terminal at its international airport in the shape of a flying falcon.
The terminal, whose roof in profile resembles a bird with spread wings, adds to Ashgabat's vast array of idiosyncratic buildings.
The terminal that officially opened on Saturday is designed to process at least 1,600 passengers every hour.
(Read also: Balikpapan airport to launch cinema facility)
Strict visa regulations in Turkmenistan mean relatively small numbers of tourists and businessmen ever visit the isolated, energy-rich Central Asian nation.
In 2013, the Guinness World Records recognized Ashgabat as having the greatest density of marble-clad buildings — estimated at more than 540. Many official buildings are noteworthy for literal or eccentric designs. The state publishing house, for example, is in the shape of a book.
