The Government of the country arrived at this decision in order to further develop the tourism potential of Kyrgyzstan. The airfield class and the length of the runway make it possible to operate the flights from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, neighbouring regions of Russia and China. This in its turn will stimulate the development of ski resorts and ecotourism of Kyrgyzstan and will favour the development of Issyk Kul region as a whole. At present in Karakol there is one of the popular ski resorts with ski area capacity of 2000 skiers a day. The area is also famous for its unique nature and mineral springs. In summer time a lot of tourists visit the area for health-improving purpose and under ecotourism programmes: hiking, horse riding, etc. The possibility to operate international flights at Karakol airport will create favourable conditions for foreign tourists who usually bring their own skiing gear with them. Until recently, being a domestic airport, "Karakol" could operate aircrafts only from domestic airports of the country, whereas the international flights from the neighbouring countries were operated by such airports as "Manas", "Issyk-Kul" and "Osh".