Minsk National Airport, formerly known as Minsk-2 (, ; russian: Национальный аэропорт Минск), is the main

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, located 42 km (26 mi) to the east of the capital

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, geographically lying in the territory of

Smalyavichy Raion Smalyavichy District ( be, Смалявіцкі раён, Smalavicki rajon; russian: Смолевичский район, Smolevičskij raion) is a second-level administrative subdivision (raion) of Belarus in Minsk Region. Its seat is the town of ...

but administratively being subordinated to

Kastrychnitski District Kastrychnitski District ( be, Кастрычніцкі раён, Kastryčnicki rajon; russian: Октябрьский район, translit=Oktyabr'skiy rayon) is an administrative subdivision of the city of Minsk, Belarus. It was named after the O ...

of Minsk. The airport serves as hub of the Belarusian flag carrier

Belavia Belavia, formally Belavia Belarusian Airlines ( be, ААТ «Авіякампанія «Белавія»; russian: ОАО «Авиакомпания «Белавиа»), is the flag carrier and national airline of Belarus, headquartered in Minsk ...

and the cargo carriers TAE Avia,ch-aviation.com - TAE Avia
retrieved 9 April 2022 Genex and

Rubystar Airways Ruby Star Airways ( be, РубіСтар) is a Belarusian cargo airline headquartered in Minsk and based at Minsk National Airport.Tupolev Tu-134. On 1 July 1983, the Second Joint Aviation Division of Minsk was established in accordance with the decision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of USSR. This date is considered as the airport foundation day.

Development since the 1990s

Regular flights began in 1983; by 1990 passenger traffic reached 2.2 million passengers. From 1991, the number of flights began to decline due to the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and other consequent changes. By 1997, the number of the passengers was 516,000, in 1998 – 480,000, in 2000 – only 400,000 passengers. Since the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the first million passengers was handled by Minsk National Airport in 2008. Due to the substantial growth in passenger traffic, 2008 became a significant mark for the airport. In May 2019, a second runway, 13L/31R was opened. In 2020, the growth was stalled by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in 2020. Additionally from May 2021 all Belarusian airlines, mainly

, have been banned from operating into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

as part of newly established sanctions after the

Ryanair Flight 4978 Ryanair Flight 4978 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Athens International Airport, Greece, to Vilnius Airport, Lithuania, operated by the Polish subsidiary Buzz. On 23 May 2021, while in Belarusian airspace, it was ...

incident. Likewise, several European airlines cancelled their Minsk services over the conflict, e.g.,

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

. On 9 August 2021, the US has added the airport director Vyacheslav Khoroneko to the

SDN list The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

Role in the 2021 border crisis

In 2021, the airport became a major hub for illegal migration to the European Union. It was reported that several fly-by-night companies and two travel agencies got full access to the international zone of the airport and started to offer agent services for arrived migrants issuing visas on arrival. It was noted that these companies enjoyed the patronage of the airport staff and authorities, while other travel agencies were not allowed to provide similar services for real tourists. The situation also affected airlines serving Belarus. Due to ongoing crisis Cham Wings Airlines terminated their flights from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

on short notice, stating they cannot distinguish between regular travellers and illegal migrants. In the same time,

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...

amongst others stopped selling tickets to Minsk to passengers with certain nationalities, e. g. from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

after the

threatened sanctions against airlines which (unknowingly) participate in illegal migration. Belavia has also ceased ticket sales to certain nationals for flights from Turkish airports to Belarus upon the Turkish government's decision to support the

regarding the recent events. The same applies to all flights from

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, whose governments announced similar guidelines.

Terminal

Minsk National Airport consists of one slightly curved, four-story passenger terminal building originally built in the style of

brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

, which has since been modernized and expanded. The ground floor features the arrivals area while the second floor consists of the check-in hall with 43 counters and 13 departure gates, some of which are equipped 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 airside features the usual

duty free A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...

shops, an airport lounge and other passenger amenities as well as a branch of

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

. The first and third floors are mainly used for administration and maintenance.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Minsk:

Statistics

Ground transportation

The airport is located 42 km (26 mi) east of Minsk, and is linked with the city with a toll-free (for non-BY registered cars) highway. Free short term parking is available in front of the terminal. Minsk National Airport is linked to the capital by the M2 motorway. Bus, train, taxi and parking services are provided. The airport is served by buses ''300Э'' and ''173Э'' departing from Centralny bus station.

Incidents and accidents

* On 1 February 1985,

Aeroflot Flight 7841 Aeroflot Flight 7841 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Minsk to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), which crashed on 1 February 1985 killing fifty eight people on board. Twenty-two people (including three crew members) survived t ...

, a Tu-134AK operated by

Aeroflot PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...

with registration number SSSR-65910 en route to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Pulkovo airport Pulkovo ( rus, links=no, Пулково, p=ˈpulkəvə) is an international airport serving St. Petersburg, Russia. It consists of one terminal which is located south of the city centre. The airport serves as a airline hub, hub for Rossiya Ai ...

, crashed into the forest shortly after takeoff, killing 55 out of 73 passengers and 3 out of 7 crew members on board. * On 6 September 2003, an aircraft Tu-154 operated by an Iranian airline Kish Air hit trees in heavy fog as it was on approach en route from

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. None of the 38 passengers and 4 crew members on board were injured. * On 26 October 2009, S-Air Flight 9607, operated using a BAe 125 RA-02807 crashed on approach to Minsk National Airport. All three crew and both passengers died. * On 23 May 2021,

, operated using a

Boeing 737-8AS The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boeing ...

with 171 passengers on board, traveling in Belarusian airspace en route from Athens to Vilnius, was intercepted by a Belarusian MiG-29 over Belarusian airspace and forced to land at Minsk National Airport. Upon landing, the

Belarusian KGB The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB; russian: Комитет государственной безопасности Республики Беларусь, КГБ РБ; be, Камітэт дзяржаўнай бяс ...

arrested two of the passengers, opposition activist

Roman Protasevich Roman Dmitriyevich Protasevich (russian: Роман Дмитриевич Протасевич; born 5 May 1995), or Raman Dzmitryyevich Pratasyevich ( be, Раман Дзмітрыевіч Пратасевіч, translit=Raman Dzmitryjevič Prat ...

and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. The other passengers were allowed to reboard the plane to depart for Vilnius after seven hours.

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Belarus Transport in Minsk