Adler-Sochi International Airport
Encyclopedia
Sochi International Airport is an airport located in Adler District
Adlersky City District
Adlersky City District is the southernmost of four city districts of the city of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, lying along the Black Sea coast near the southern Russian border with Abkhazia, Georgia...

 of the resort city of Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...

, on the coast of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 in the federal subject of Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai
-External links:* **...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

The operator of the airport is JSC International, which is part of the aviation holding company Basic Element Aero.

As of 2009, the airport is the ninth largest by passenger count in Russia, serving 1.485 million passengers, including approximately 105,400 international passengers. The airport serves Sochi, Russia's largest resort, as well as the surrounding area, which has a total permanent population of more than 700,000 people.

History

The original airfield was constructed to protect Russia's Black Sea coast during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

; construction took place between 8 July and 1 September 1941, on the site of the liquidated state farm seed Chernomorets
Chernomorets
Chernomorets is a town on the Black Sea coast of southeastern Bulgaria. Administratively part of Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Province, Chernomorets is a popular seaside resort....

. By order of the Chief of the Office of Civil Aviation, the site became an established airport on 23 November 1945.

In 1956, the first terminal building (now the old building) and the airstrip runway-1 were built. Approximately 35,000 passengers and 1000 tons of cargo passed through the airport in 1957. From 1960 to 1965, passenger and baggage halls, a 200-room hotel, radio navigation and landing systems were all added to the airport as passenger traffic constantly increased. The Order of Red Banner of Labor was awarded to the airport in August 1966 for its high performance.

Passenger traffic went from 902,000 enplanements in 1965 to more than 2.3 million in 1990. From its opening in 1957 to today, the airport has served more than 60 million passengers.

Regularly scheduled international departures and arrivals began in 1981; the original destinations were Bratislava, Budapest, and Prague. The airport later expanded to include flights to the Middle East and Western Europe. The international section of Sochi's terminal is small, but it includes a duty-free shop.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

 deleted Sochi International Airport from the list of strategic enterprises on 3 May 2006 (Decree N456), superseding its previous status under Decree N1009 of 4 August 2004.

The Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) of Russia at the meeting on 29 August 2006, registered the issue and reported on the results of the issue ordinary shares of OJSC "International airport of Sochi on the total amount of 1,142,035,400 rubles. Accommodation passed through the acquisition of shares of stock news on the Internet when converting at JSC in the process of state enterprise privatization. Number of securities issue - 11,420,354 units, the nominal value of each share - 100 rubles. Issue by assigned state registration number 1-01-55219-E. The runway is not an asset to be privatized, and is leased by the airport. RF Government Decree of 16 September N1301-p, including 100 per cent stock "Sochi International Airport" in the program of privatization of federal property in 2006. Russia Federal Property Fund on 20 Nov 2006 held an auction to sell 100% shares of OAO «International airport of Sochi. The winner of the auction was sold to OOO "Strategy-South" - the structure, affiliated with BazEl ( "Basic Element", until 2001 - a group of Siberian Aluminum "), which paid 5,000,665,000 rubles. The airport in Sochi for the fourth southern Russia for the Russian-Asian Investment Company (RAInKo, the real owner - Oleg Deripaska). By this time the company has managed through the holding "Airports of the South" three airports - in the cities of Krasnodar (Airport Pashkovskii), Anapa and built in Gelendzhik. In July 2007, Bazel for $ 10 million acquired ZAO Sochi-avia-invest " - OWNERS 65% of the fuel-filling set of Sochi's airport.

Characteristics

Sochi International Airport has two artificial runways; combined with its taxiways network it has a total length of 4310 meters and a width of 40.5 m of paved tarmac. The platform and parking lot have a total area of 218 square meters, with spaces for more than 1000 cars. Because of the presence of natural obstacles (mountains) to the north and north-east of the airport, take off and landing are only possible on the sea side of the facility; this complicates airport operations, as strong winds can cause take-off and landing to become a safety concern.

The airport authority plans to extend the runway up to 3.5 km, with a portion overlapping the Mzymta River
Mzymta River
Mzymta is a river in Western Caucasus, Russia, flowing through Krasnodar Krai and the city of Sochi. Mzymta is the biggest river in Russia emptying into the Black Sea. Length: 89 km; watershed area: 885 km²....

 at a width of 300 m.

The Sochi airport is certificated by Aviation Register of the MAC for its suitability for international flights. It has the ability to receive the following aircraft types: Airbus
Airbus
Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....

 A310, Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

 727, Boeing 737, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Bombardier CRJ 200, Fokker 70, IL-62, IL -76, IL-86, IL-96, Tu-134, Tu-144, Tu-154, Tu-204, Yak-40, Yak-42 and other planes III and IV classes. Since 2007 takes aircraft of all types.

The capacity of the airport complex is 750 passengers per hour/ 2500 passengers per day. The new terminal building was built from 1989 - 2007. It has 3 floors with total area of 57,000 square meters and is one of the largest in Russia. The airport has 440 meters of corridor space and 10 boarding bridges for boarding and deplaning passengers.

Renovations to the airport in anticipation of the 2014 Winter Olympics
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...

 are under way. Official opening of the new terminal complex will be held in the near future.

On 20 November 2006, the airport was auctioned to Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Deripaska
Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska is the Russian Chief executive officer of Basic Element company and a member of the Board of Directors and CEO of United Company RUSAL, a Russian aluminium industry company...

's Basic Element group for 5.5 billion roubles (about $206.6 million). Deripaska is also a member of the committee organizing Sochi's bid for the Winter Olympics.

Airlines and destinations

Incidents and accidents

On 3 May 2006, an Armavia
Armavia
Air Company "Armavia" is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Zvartnots International Airport in Zvartnots, Armenia, near Yerevan. It operates international passenger services from Yerevan to destinations in Europe and Asia...

 Airbus A320 operating Armavia Flight 967
Armavia Flight 967
Armavia Flight 967 was a flight operated by Armavia, the largest international airline of Armenia on May 3, 2006, from Yerevan in Armenia to Sochi, a Black Sea coastal resort city in Russia...

 crashed in the Black Sea en route from Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

's Zvartnots International Airport
Zvartnots International Airport
Zvartnots International Airport is located near Zvartnots, west of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The airport was built in 1961. It is now the busiest airport in Armenia and the Caucasus. The draftsmen of the airport included architects M. Khachikyan, A. Tarkhanyan, J. Sheqhlyan, L....

to Sochi. The airplane crashed into the sea while attempting to conduct a go-around following its first approach to Sochi airport, killing all 113 aboard. The accident was the first major commercial airline crash in 2006.

External links

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