Semey International Airport ( kk, Semei Halyqaralyq Äuejaiy) , formerly New Semey ( kk, link=no, Jañasemei) and named after

Abai Qunanbaiuly Ibrahim (Abai) Qunanbaiuly ( kk, Абай Құнанбайұлы, ; russian: Абай Кунанбаев; ) was a Kazakh poet, composer and Hanafi Maturidi theologian philosopher. He was also a cultural reformer toward European and Russian cultu ...

, is an airport in

Semey Semey ( kk, Семей, Semei, سەمەي; cyrl, Семей ), until 2007 known as Semipalatinsk (russian: Семипала́тинск) and in 1917–1920 as Alash-kala ( kk, Алаш-қала, ''Alaş-qala''), is a city in eastern Kazakhst ...

, Kazakhstan, located south-west of the city. It services large airliners. The airfield contains two groups of alert fighter pads. A overrun exists at each end of runway 08/26. Established in 1929, it is Kazakhstan's oldest international airport. Declassified CIA documents indicate that in the late 1960s, during the height of the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

, the Soviet Union used this airfield as a bomber staging base for Chinese targets, and at times the

Tupolev Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s. The aircraft was a disappoint ...

Blinder was identified here. The

Tupolev Tu-128 The Tupolev Tu-28 (NATO reporting name Fiddler) was a long-range interceptor aircraft introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The official designation was Tu-128, but this designation was less commonly used in the West. It was the largest ...

and

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 ...

were also based here at various times.

Airlines and destinations

References

Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Kazakhstan Kazakh Air Defense Forces {{Kazakhstan-transport-stub

Airlines and destinations

See also

References