Ugolny Airport (russian: Аэропорт Угольный) (also Leninka, Ugolnyye Kopi, Ugolnoye) is a mixed-use military and civil airfield in the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
located 11 km east of
Anadyr Anadyr may refer to:
*Anadyr (town), a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr District
*Anadyr Estuary
*Anadyr (river), a river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr Highlands
*Anadyr Lowlands
*Operati ...
, separated from the town by the waters of
Anadyrsky Liman
Anadyrskiy Liman (russian: Анадырский Лиман) or Anadyr Estuary is an estuary on the Gulf of Anadyr in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Siberia, Russian Federation. Geography
It is called a liman because it is separated from the Gulf of ...
. The airfield was originally constructed in the 1950s as a
staging base for
Long Range Aviation
Long-Range Aviation ( rus, Авиация Дальнего Действия, r=Aviatsiya dal'nego deystviya, abbr. to AДД, or ADD, and literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'') is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delive ...
bombers such as the
Tupolev Tu-95
The Tupolev Tu-95 (russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the ...
and
Tupolev Tu-22M
The Tupolev Tu-22M (russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev, Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. According ...
. During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
years it became the primary hub for civilian flights in the
Chukotka region.
In May 2019, the airport was named in honor of the
Chukchi writer
Yuri Rytkheu
Yuri Sergeyevich Rytkheu ( rus, Ю́рий Серге́евич Рытхэ́у, , ˈjʉrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ rɨtˈxɛʊ; ckt, Ю́рий Серге́евич Рытгэ́в; 8 March 1930 – 14 May 2008) was a Chukchi writer, ...
.
Civilian history
The Soviet-built
Ilyushin Il-62
The Ilyushin Il-62 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-62; NATO reporting name: Classic) is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 pa ...
was a workhorse of the route from
Moscow Domodedovo Airport
Domodedovo Airport ( rus, links=no, Домодедово аэропорт, p=dəmɐˈdʲɛdəvə) (IATA: DME, ICAO: UUDD), formally Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, is an international airport serving Moscow, the capital of Rus ...
to Anadyr for many decades. There is occasional charter aircraft service from
Nome, Alaska
Nome (; ik, Sitŋasuaq, ) is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of Alaska, United States. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. It had a population of 3,699 recorded ...
to Anadyr.
Anadyr was featured in the American novel
Flight of the Old Dog
''Flight of the Old Dog'' is a 1987 thriller novel written by Dale Brown. The novel's descriptions of B-52 controls and operations are based on Brown's knowledge of the systems as a USAF navigator. The flight is also recreated as a special missi ...
.
In 2018, 102,806 passengers passed through this airport.
On 3 January 2020, United States pilot Matt Guthmiller posted a video of his experience entering the Chukotka Autonomous region and landing at DYR without the correct documentation.
Incidents and accidents
Owing to its geographic location, its long, concrete-reinforced, heavy load-bearing runway, as well as its modern terminal with
jet bridge
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
s, the airport is well-suited and well-situated for emergency diversion at roughly the midpoint of the northern route trans-Pacific routes.
*On 2 July 2013, a
Korean Air
Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights.
The present-day Korean Air ...
Boeing 777-300
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range Wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to ...
performing a scheduled flight from
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
to
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
made an emergency landing at Ugolny after one of its engines quit in flight.
*On the morning of 5 March 2019, an
Air China
Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
Boeing 777-300ER performing a scheduled flight from
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
made an emergency landing due to a fire alarm later confirmed false. All of the 10
evacuation slide
An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial (passenger carrying) aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers wou ...
s deployed.
Ground transportation
The airport is located on the opposite site of the
Anadyr River
The Anadyr (russian: Ана́дырь; Yukaghir: Онандырь; ckt, Йъаайваам) is a river in the far northeast of Siberia which flows into the Gulf of Anadyr of the Bering Sea and drains much of the interior of Chukotka Autonomous ...
from the city. Transport by summer is by boat, by winter by a road on the ice, and for a period in spring and fall, only helicopter. The helicopter ticket was (in 2015) 3,680 rubles ($60).
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Military
Anadyr was one of nine Arctic staging bases (in Russian, "bounce aerodrome") for long range bombers.
[STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES SUMMARY REPORT (SANITIZED)](_blank)
June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC. The Russian Air Force's OGA (Arctic Control Group) is responsible for upkeep of the facilities.
Anadyr has also been a prominent base for
Soviet Air Defence Forces
The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...
due to its close proximity to Alaskan airspace. The 529th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO, flying the
Yakovlev Yak-28P (Firebar) interceptor, was stationed at Anadyr starting in the 1960s, along with
S-75 (SA-2) surface-to-air missile installations of the 762nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment. The PVO units were under the control of the 25th Air Defense Division of the
11th Separate Air Defense Army, responsible for air defense on the Chukotka Peninsula. An
R-14 Chusovaya
The R-14 Chusovaya (russian: Чусовая) was a single stage Intermediate-range ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was given the NATO reporting name SS-5 Skean and was known by GRAU index 8K65. It was des ...
(SS-5 Skean) medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) complex of the 83rd Separate Missile Regiment of the
Strategic Missile Forces
The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Фед ...
, which targeted American military installations in Alaska, was located 13 km (8 miles) northeast of Ugolny airfield from 1962 to 1969.
[Evaluations of Soviet Surface-to-Surface Missile Deployment, November 1965, Guided Missile and Astronautics Intelligence Committee, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.]
In September 1982, the Yak-28s were replaced with 20
Sukhoi Su-15TM
The Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name: Flagon) is a twinjet supersonic interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It entered service in 1965 and remained one of the front-line designs into the 1990s. The Su-15 was designed to replace t ...
(Flagon) as part of a force upgrade. The Su-15 were flown by the 171st Fighter Aviation Regiment which was transferred from Bombora airfield,
Gudauta
Gudauta ( ka, გუდაუთა, ; ab, Гәдоуҭа, ''Gwdowtha''; russian: Гудаута, ''Gudauta'') is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest of Sukhu ...
, in the
Abkhazian ASSR
The Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (russian: Абхазская Автономная Советская Социалистическая Республика; ka, აფხაზეთის ავტონომიური ს ...
of the
Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
, while the 529th transferred to Gudauta. The interceptor regiment was disbanded in 1993.
Fighter aircraft are no longer based permanently at Anadyr, and the region is overflown daily by foreign aircraft on the Asian
polar route
A polar route is an aircraft route across the uninhabited polar ice cap regions. The term "polar route" was originally applied to great circle navigation routes between Europe and the west coast of North America in the 1950s.
The Arctic Early ye ...
. Temporary military deployments are common, however. In 2001, the airfield was visited by
Tupolev Tu-95
The Tupolev Tu-95 (russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the ...
MS and
Ilyushin Il-78
The Ilyushin Il-78 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-78; NATO reporting name Midas) is a Soviet/Russian four-engined aerial refueling tanker based on the Il-76 strategic airlifter.
Design and development
The Soviet Union's first dedicated t ...
aircraft on exercise from
Engels air base.
In 2014, Russia announced plans to deploy
MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...
interceptors at the airport.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
Ugolny Airport Official Website
*
*
*
Airport AnadyrAviateka.Handbook
{{authority control
Russian Air Force bases
Soviet Air Force bases
Airports built in the Soviet Union
Airports in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug