Antonov Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Антонов» ), also known as Hostomel (or Gostomel) Airport ( uk, аеропорт «Гостомель»), is an international
cargo
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
and testing facility in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, located near
Hostomel
Hostomel ( uk, Гостомель, ) is a city in Bucha Raion, Kyiv Oblast, northwest of the capital city of Kyiv. It hosts the administration of Hostomel settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The population of the settlement is app ...
, which is a northwestern suburb of
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
.
The airport is owned by and named after the
Antonov aircraft manufacturing company and operated by its subsidiary
Antonov Airlines
Antonov Airlines is a Ukrainian cargo airline, a division of the Antonov aviation company. It operates international charter services in the oversized-cargo market. Its main base is Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. In the aftermath of the Battle o ...
. The destroyed
An-225
The Antonov An-225 Mriya ( uk, Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, lit=dream' or 'inspiration; NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
It was o ...
was based here.
During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, the airport became the site of
an intense battle. It was temporarily held by Russian forces and sustained heavy damage to facilities and aircraft.
History
Construction of the airport began in 1959. Commercial cargo operations at the airport began in 1989 with the first attempts at demilitarizing and commercializing of the
Antonov Design Bureau
Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, the first day of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, the airport was
attacked and seized by the Russian military. On the day, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
said "The enemy paratroopers in Hostomel have been blocked, and troops have received an order to destroy them". Later in the day, between 8-10 PM local time (UTC+2) reports surfaced that the airport had been retaken, but heavy fighting continued for weeks at the airport and in neighboring Hostomel. Ukrainian forces regained control of the airport by 2 April, but the airport sustained extensive damage and the notable An-225 cargo aircraft was destroyed.
The
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company i ...
owner, Sir
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
, visited the President of Ukraine and the damaged airport and had interest in investing in rebuilding it.
Aircraft testing operations
Gostomel Airport was originally built as a top-secret in-house Flight Testing and Improvement Base ( uk, Льотно-випробувальна і довідна база) for Antonov airplanes. It is equipped with special equipment for it (e.g., artificial
lightning
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
generator) and granted a purpose test
flight zone
The flight zone of an animal is the area surrounding an animal that if encroached upon by a potential predator or threat, including humans, will cause alarm and escape behavior. The flight zone is determined by the animal's flight distance, someti ...
. Its sister facility, responsible for manufacturing, is located inside Kyiv at the
Sviatoshyn Airfield
Sviatoshyn Airfield (Ukrainian Аеродром «Святошин»), formerly known as ''Svyatoshino'', is an industrial airfield in Kyiv, Ukraine, located 11 km northwest of city center. It is part of the Antonov Serial Production Plant, su ...
.
Cargo operations
![Antonov An-225 landing at Gostomel Airport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Antonov_An-225_landing_at_Gostomel_Airport.jpeg)
The airport is used by Antonov Airlines, as well as by other interested cargo carriers. The following facilities and services are available on site:
*
transshipping
Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination.
One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...
(air-to-auto; air-to-railway)
*storage capacities
*
border control
Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...
and
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
*aircraft maintenance
Military presence
Ukrainian Air Force
The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...
was using the airport for its transportation forces.
The
An-225 "Mriya" (''tr. 'dream' or 'inspiration), the world's
largest cargo aircraft, was located at Hostomel Airport before its partial destruction during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
See also
*
List of airports in Ukraine
This is a list of airports in Ukraine grouped by type and sorted by location. All aviation infrastructure of Ukraine is being supervised and regulated by the State Aviation Service of Ukraine (until 2010 the State Aviation Administration of Ukra ...
*
List of the busiest airports in Ukraine
This is a list of the busiest airports in Ukraine.
In graph
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
See also
* List of airports in Ukraine
* List of the busiest airports in Europe
* Transport in Ukraine
* L ...
Notes
References
External links
Antonov Airportat Antonov ASTC corporate Web site
*NOAA/NW
*AS
Accident history for the Antonov Airport
{{authority control
Airports in Kyiv
Antonov
Airports established in 1959
1959 establishments in Ukraine
Soviet Air Force bases
Ukrainian airbases
Buildings and structures destroyed during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine