Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $1 million technical assistance (TA) grant to prepare outlines, designs, and cost estimates for improving the country's major airports.
Sources said on Saturday that through this amount, a 10-year Civil Aviation Master Plan would be prepared that would provide a framework for sustainable and effective development of the civil aviation sector in Afghanistan.
The prolonged state of conflict in Afghanistan and lack of maintenance have inflicted heavy damage on the country's two international airports, four major domestic airports and 16 regional domestic airports.
The sources said that the Afghan Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was the executing agency of the TA, which would be carried out to August 2004.
The Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan would contribute US $180,000 equivalent toward the total cost of US $1.18 million, he added.