Soviet Plans Airport for Biro-bidjan

The development of the Jewish autonomous district of Biro-Bidjan as a great air transportation center between Europe and the countries of the Far East, is provided in a five-year plan for the Bureya announced here today.

The announcement was made by M. Kantorovitch, vice-chairman of the Government Planning Commission. The five-year plan intends to accomplish the following:

1. To bring the total population of Biro-Bidjan to 220,000.

2. To cultivate an additional 40,000 hectares of land there for wheat alone.

3. To bring in not less than 120,000 new immigrants.

4. To establish a huge metallurgical base employing 10,000 workers.

5. To increase railway transportation.

6. To introduce a swifter Trans-Siberian airline with Biro-Bidjan as a stopping place, thus making possible a trip from Moscow to Biro-Bidjan within three days, instead of the present nine days which it takes by express train.

The establishment of an air-line station in Biro-Bidjan will convert the district into one of the most important strategic points in the Far East, since the only way to reach China and Japan from any part of Europe by air will be through Biro-Bidjan.