MURMANSK, April 12. /TASS/. Upgraded area around the Murmansk airport, which requires investments of 234 million rubles ($3.6 million), will be more comfortable for passengers and for land transport. According to the regional government’s press service, Acting Governor Andrei Chibis discussed the upgrade plan with the airport’s Director General Andrei Osipov on Friday.

"The total due investments will be 234.6 million rubles," the press service said.

The project includes construction of a short-term parking lot and a parking garage, reconstruction of the light and electricity systems, a bypass route around the airport. All the works will be completed within 2019.

The acting governor and the airport’s director general discussed reconstruction of the runway, which is a federal property.

"When the airport is upgraded to receive bigger aircraft, the number of tourists visiting the Polar region will grow," the press service said. "Presently, fewer than one million visitors a year come here."

The new longer and bigger runways will be a step forward to making a transport hub in Murmansk, the acting governor added.