Sochi International Airport (russian: Международный Аэропорт Сочи; ) is an airport located in

Adler District Adlersky City District (russian: А́длерский райо́н) is the southernmost of four city districts of the city of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, lying along the Black Sea coast near the southern Russian border with Georgia. The cit ...

of the

resort city A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...

, on the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

in the federal subject of

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. Sochi International Airport is among the ten largest Russian airports, with an annual passenger turnover of 5.2 million. The airport is run by an international joint venture of Basic Element group,

Sberbank PJSC Sberbank (russian: Сбербанк, initially a contraction of russian: сберегательный банк, translit=sberegatelnyy bank, lit=savings bank, link=no) is a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services compa ...

and Changi Airports International. The airport has been recognized as the best regional airport at the 3rd annual forum "Development of Russia and CIS airports – 2013", held by Adam Smith Conference. Sochi International Airport was the main gateway during the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympi ...

. It served over 350,000 passengers on February 1–28, 2014. Over 2,800 tons of luggage was handled during the Olympic period.

History

1941–1991

The original airfield was constructed to protect Russia's Black Sea coast during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

; construction took place between 8 July and 1 September 1941, on the site of the liquidated state seed farm "Chernomorets". 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 embarkations 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 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, w ...

1991–present

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

removed Sochi International Airport from the list of strategic enterprises on 3 May 2006 (

Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...

No.456), superseding its previous status under Decree No.1009 of 4 August 2004. Sochi International Airport was privatized in 2006 after Federal Property Fund held an auction to sell 100% shares of the airport. "Strategy-South", a company affiliated with Basic Element group (until 2001 – "Siberian Aluminum") won an auction to acquire the airport for 5.5 billion rubles. The airport in Sochi became the fourth airport in southern Russia, among the ones in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

Anapa Anapa (russian: Ана́па, ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. Population: History The area around Anapa was settled in antiquity. It was originally a major seaport ...

and Gelendzhik, operated by the Russian Asian Investment Company (RAInKo, owned by

Oleg Deripaska Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (russian: Олег Владимирович Дерипаска; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian billionaire and an industrialist. Deripaska enriched himself on previously state-owned assets that were privatized in ...

) and "Airports of South". In 2007, Basic Element group established Basel Aero, a holding company that runs its airport business and operates all four airports . Sochi International Airport which was under renovation, opened its doors to first passengers in 2010. It was further upgraded to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee as the gateway of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games. Basic Element, together with Russia's largest bank Sberbank and Changi Airports International, operator of the

Singapore airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...

, established a joint venture to manage airports in Krasnodar region in 2012. Under the agreement, Basic Element has 50% plus one share in the JV, Sberbank's stake is 20% minus one share while Changi Airports International holds 30%. In 2007–2013, Basic Element spent over 14 billion rubles ($410 million) on the airport's renovation. A modernized airport's building features a 65,000-sq.m terminal with an advanced 450-m long boarding gallery adjacent to the airport, 10 boarding bridges ensuring a comfortable access to the aircraft, a 4,000-sq.m VIP Terminal with the handling capacity of 80 passengers per hour that hosted IOC delegates and other high-profile guests at the Winter Olympics. New Zealand minted coins in 2010 as part of the 'Olympic capitals' collection, and placed a picture of a plane taking off from the Sochi airport on the "tails" of a new silver dollar coin. Due to airspace closures and aircraft seizure risks following the

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 ...

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 ...

announced in March 2022 that it would open a hub at Sochi using Rossiya-operated

Sukhoi SuperJet 100 The Sukhoi Superjet 100 () or SSJ100 is a regional jet designed by Russian aircraft company Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a division of the United Aircraft Corporation (now: Regional Aircraft – Branch of the Irkut Corporation). With development start ...

aircraft to serve 17 short-haul international destinations in 6 countries, with an aim to facilitate connecting traffic to and from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Krasnoyarsk.

Infrastructure

Runways

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. The airport authority plans to extend the 06/24 runway up to 3.5 km, with a portion overlapping the

Mzymta River Mzymta (, , lit. 'the place (-ҭа) of the river Мӡым", , ''Mezmytha'') is a river in Western Caucasus, Russia, flowing through Mostovsky District and the city of Sochi (Adlersky City District) of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Mzymta is the larges ...

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 SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

A310, Airbus A319/320/321, Airbus A350,

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

727, Boeing 737/747/757/767/777, 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 the airport takes aircraft of all types.

Main terminal

The capacity of the airport complex is 750 passengers per hour/ 2500 passengers per day. The current terminal building was open to public in 2007. It has 3 floors with total area of 62,000 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. The airport received extensive renovations in anticipation of the

. On 20 November 2006, the airport was auctioned to

'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. The Sochi Airport railway station is located directly next to the terminal and connected via walkway bridge.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Sochi Airport:

Statistics

Annual traffic

Incidents and accidents

* On 28 July 1962,

Aeroflot Flight 415 Aeroflot Flight 415 ( ''Reys 415 Aeroflota'') was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Lviv to Sochi with a stopover in Simferopol. On 28 July 1962 the Antonov An-10 operating the route crashed near Gagra, Abkhaz ASSR, ...

, an Antonov An-10 crashed into the mountains near Sochi Airport, killing all 81 people aboard. * On 1 October 1972, an

Ilyushin Il-18V The Ilyushin Il-18 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-18; NATO reporting name: Coot) is a large turboprop airliner that first flew in 1957 and became one of the best known and most durable Soviet aircraft of its era. The Il-18 was one of the world ...

operating

Aeroflot Flight 1036 Aeroflot Flight 1036 ( ''Reys 1036 Aeroflota'') was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot that crashed during takeoff from Sochi International Airport on 1 October 1972. All 109 people aboard the Ilyushin Il-18V perished in t ...

crashed shortly after departure from Sochi Airport into the Black Sea, killing all 109 passengers and crew. The cause of the accident was never determined. * On 3 May 2006, an Armavia

Airbus A320-200 Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

operating

Armavia Flight 967 Armavia Flight 967 (U8 967/RNV 967) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Armavia from Zvartnots International Airport, Zvarnots in Armenia to Sochi, a Black Sea coastal resort city in Russia. On 3 May 2006, the aircraft ope ...

crashed in the Black Sea en route from

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

Zvartnots International Airport Zvartnots International Airport ( hy, Զվարթնոց միջազգային օդանավակայան, translit=Zvart'nots' mijazgayin ōdanavakayan) is located near Zvartnots, west of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. It acts as the main ...

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. * On 25 December 2016, a

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

Tupolev Tu-154 The Tupolev Tu-154 (russian: Tyполев Ту-154; NATO reporting name: "Careless") is a three-engined, medium-range, narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and (subsequently) Russian ...

disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi. The aircraft was found to have crashed on the Black Sea. All 92 people on board, including the members of Russian military choir Alexandrov Ensemble were killed in the crash. The flight had originated in Moscow and was flying to Latakia in Syria. * On 1 September 2018, Utair Flight 579, A

Boeing 737-800 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 Boein ...

operating the flight, overran the runway, came to a stop in a river bed past the runway, and caught fire. 18 of the 164 passengers were injured, some from burns, some from carbon monoxide poisoning. One airport worker died during cleanup. The plane landed with a strong tail wind in heavy rain. The wind direction was changing quickly before the accident. There had already been attempts to land before the accident.

References

External links

Official websiteSochi Airport at the Russian Airports Database
* * * {{authority control Adlersky City District Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Krasnodar Krai Buildings and structures in Sochi Airports established in 1941 1941 establishments in the Soviet Union Basel Aero