MINIĆ THANKS ISRAEL FOR BANJA LUKA AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT STUDY TO DRIVE FURTHER GROWTH IN SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 1 /SRNA/ - The development of Banja Luka Airport will give an additional boost to Republika Srpska's growth, Prime Minister Savo Minić said after the presentation of a feasibility study aimed at upgrading the airport so that it can handle 2.5 million passengers a year within the next several years.

Minić said Israel had donated the study to Republika Srpska, describing it as exactly what Srpska needs.

"This is the best technical solution for our airport and we will certainly adopt it. I thank President /Milorad/ Dodik and our friends in Israel who have built strategic relations that are very important for the development of Republika Srpska," Minić stressed.

Israeli humanitarian and businessman Moshe Levy said Israel and Republika Srpska enjoy a strong partnership.

"Republika Srpska is a good friend of Israel. As we promised, we will transfer technology, knowledge and everything we have in order to make our relations even stronger," Levy said.

Levy said the Israeli Government had authorized him to invite Republika Srpska Police special forces to Israel to train with the Israeli Police, describing the invitation as another gift from his country to Srpska.

Amir Man, owner of the Israeli design firm that will prepare the feasibility study for Banja Luka Airport, said the company had designed and completed a similar project three years ago.

"We are working on two more airports designed to handle 200 million passengers annually. As for Banja Luka Airport, we need precise passenger figures, implementation costs and projections of future trends and passenger growth. We hope to complete the study by December so that we can move forward with developing this vision," Man said.