The modernization of the terminal in the Minsk National Airport will be finished in early 2020, BelTA learned from the airport's Director General Dmitry Melikyan on 23 December during the ceremony to welcome this year's 5,000,000th passenger.

The executive said: “We've built the second runway. It is a high-quality one in every aspect. Modernization of the terminal is in progress now. It will be finished early next year and we will get down to repairing the first runway in order to have two equivalent runways. We don't want to deny landing to any aircraft for technical reasons.”

As part of the modernization the sector that welcomes flights from Russia will be changed. Heating and air conditioning will be reworked. Glass panels will be redesigned to match the overall theme. Escalators and lifts will be tuned or replaced.

The construction of the second terminal is under consideration. If built, the new one will be connected to the existing terminal. Yet another terminal may be built to match rising passenger numbers in the future, Dmitry Melikyan noted. Speaking about the construction timeframe, he noted that the matter is under consideration. The experience of neighbors is being looked into. The construction of a new terminal in the Ukrainian city of Borispol ahead of a European football championship was mentioned as an example. The new terminal was built but the old ones had to be closed. “We are monitoring the situation to avoid mistakes. As far as the second terminal is concerned, we are talking about early 2020s. The sooner it is full, the sooner we will start building the third one. But it is all a distant future,” Dmitry Melikyan added.

The Minsk National Airport is Belarus' first international airport that has been certified for compliance with the international standard ISO 9001. The airport offers flights to over 40 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and other regions. In 2018 Minsk National Airport welcomed 4,536,618 passengers, 10.3% up from 2017.