A 2.3-kilometre section of the main road towards the airport will be rerouted north, away from the runway, creating space adjacent to the existing infrastructure.

The airport's long-term development plan involves building a hotel, shopping mall and logistics capacities on land that is currently taken up by the road, a project that is referred at as Aeropolis.

Under the EUR 2.6m contract, the re-routing will be completed by the end of next year.

The project has been 18 years in the making and has been delayed first by zoning and land purchasing problems, and finally by a lack of road infrastructure funds during the crisis.

"This is the first such project and I hope others will follow soon," said Ljiljana Herga, the deputy head of the government's Infrastructure Directorate.

Director of engineering at airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana Stane Bobnar said the economic crisis had temporarily delayed development.

But the new owner, Fraport, has endorsed the revised development projects and Aeropolis. The company believes that the Aeropolis project could be completed by 2035.