Afghanistan - Infrastructure
Gradually, the road network has been augmented by 41 airports or airfields for domestic and international travel, established with substantial Soviet and American aid. The largest and most important airport was Kabul International Airport, where traffic doubled to over 100,000 passengers annually between 1969 and 1976. Topographical conditions limited the airport's capacity to handle wide bodied jets, and the government had long wanted an alternative site for a large airport. The Soviets undertook several expansion projects at the Kabul airport and also built jet airstrips at Mazar a Sharif, Bagrami, and Jalalabad. In 1985 the government was engaged in an Af1.6 billion program to upgrade Kabul airport facilities. The runway was to be lengthened for use by larger aircraft, and a new terminal and hangars were to be built. Passenger movement rose to 127,000 in 1982, up from 106,000 in 1976. The United States had helped build Afghanistan's other international airport, at Qandahar, beginning in 1956. It was initially conceived as a refueling stop for piston engine aircraft on the long flights across South Asia and the Middle East. The introduction of jet aircraft, however, quickly turned the project into a white elephant, and Karachi became the preferred stopover site. The $15 million, 3,030 meter airstrip and its airport facilities were little used after their completion in 1963. Only 6,000 assengers went through the airport in 1976. The Qandahar airport was operated mainly as an alternative to the Kabul airport when Kabul was fog or snow bound. During the mid 1960s the United States also completed smaller regional airports in Herat, Mazar a Sharif, Konduz, and Jalalabad. By 1978 several smaller towns located far off the main highway belt, reach as Maymanah and Feyzabad, also had airports.
In an effort to preclude Soviet influence, the United States also provided technical assistance when Afghanistan established Ariana Afghan Airlines in 1955. In 1957 the Afghan government took a 51 percent share of the company, while Pan American World Airways held 49 percent. The United States Export Import Bank later helped Ariana buy two Boeing727s for its flights to Western Europe. After the Soviet invasion, however, Ariana landing rights in Western Europe were revoked. It then flew to Moscow, Prague, Dubai, and New Delhi, but by late 1985 it either had gone out of business or was about to do so. In 1985 only two foreign carriers served Kabul International Airport Aeroflot and Indian Airlines. Also serving as an internal carrier within Afghanistan was the state owned Bakhtar Airlines. It had a fleet of two Antonov 24s, three Canadia Twin Otters, and two Yak 40s. In September 1985 the government admitted the loss of one of the company's aircraft in a crash at Qandahar, in which 52 passengers were killed. The government blamed a resistance surface to air missile.
River traffic along the Amu Darya increased rapidly as trade expanded between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. River ports unloaded 215 tons of cargo in 1975; by 1981 the government gave a figure of over 400,000 tons. Jeyretan was the principal river port, handling 86 percent of the cargo, with Shir Khan and Towraghondi the other major river ports. All three of these ports were scheduled to be enlarged during the 1980s to handle increased traffic.
