The Palestinian Authority (PA) said Thursday that it is ready to begin construction on an international airport in the West Bank, east of Jerusalem, DPA reported.
The airport, which is planned for an 8-square-kilometre plot of land, would be part of the Palestinian government's two-year state institution building plan.
"We are ready to start work on the plot in the first half of next year," Palestinian Minister of Transportation Sadi al-Kurunz told reporters in Ramallah.
It would have freight and passenger capacity and be built according to international standards, the minister said.
Kurunz expressed hope that once work starts, international donors will come forward with the 340 million dollars needed for the project.
"An airport means sovereignty, freedom, progress and economic development," he said, giving the example of the tourism industry, which would require transportation infrastructure.
The plot of land designated for the project falls in what is known as Area C, a region of the West Bank under full Israeli control.
But the PA "did not and will not ask permission from Israel" to build the airport, Kurunz said. He argued that the Oslo Accords, the first direct agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, provides the latter the right to build two airports.
Training for staff, including pilots, has already begun, the minister added.
The Palestinians had an airport in the Gaza Strip that was destroyed following the outbreak of the second intifada, or uprising, in 2000.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to create an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but negotiations with Israel are currently facing a stalemate over continued Jewish settlement construction.