Tiraspol Airport, russian: Тирасполь аэродром, Tiraspol' aerodrom, uk, Тирасполь аеродром, Tyraspolʹ aerodrom is an
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 ...
located in
Tiraspol
Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...
. It previously served as a military air base.
History
Until 1989, it was used as a
military airfield
An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...
of the
Soviet Air Forces
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
. In 1991, work began on converting the airfield into a commercial airport, which would be the largest in Transnistria. These works were suspended due to the lack of funding and the political unsettledness of the
status of Transnistria, which did not allow the customs and border services of the
Republic of Moldova
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
to be located at the airport and, consequently, to fly outside the country. Nevertheless, during the reconstruction of
Chișinău International Airport
Chișinău International Airport is Moldova's main international airport, located southeast of the centre of Chișinău, the capital city. It serves as headquarters for Air Moldova, the country's national airline. The IATA airport code KIV is d ...
in 1999–2000, the Tiraspol Airport was used to carry out regular flights, for which, according to the temporary scheme, the presence of the registration and customs-border service of Chișinău International Airport was organized at the Tiraspol Airport.
Until 2012, car races were held at the airfield. The airfield was used for training before the 2 September and
9 May
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
* 1386 – England and Portugal formally ra ...
parades.
In October 2012, Transnistrian President
Yevgeny Shevchuk
Yevgeny Vasilyevich Shevchuk (russian: Евге́ний Васи́льевич Шевчу́к, tr. ''Yevgeniy Vasilyevich Shevchuk'', uk, Євге́н Васи́льович Шевчу́к, tr. ''Yevhen Vasylovych Shevchuk'', Moldovan Cyrillic ...
announced his intention to create a civilian airport in Tiraspol on the territory of a military airfield. The head of the delegation of the
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Sergei Gavrilov, confirmed that the reconstruction would be paid with funds provided by Russia. In the same year, the runway was restored before the arrival of Russian military specialists.
On October 23, 2012, Russian
Antonov An-72
The Antonov An-72 (NATO reporting name: Coaler) is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft, developed by Antonov. It was designed as an STOL transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commer ...
aircraft landed in Tiraspol, marking the first flight since 1998. On October 25, 2012, the aircraft flew to
Chișinău
Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...
.
On May 10, 2016, Transnistrian President Shevchuk confirmed the intention to transform the Tiraspol airfield into a civilian airport, but indicated that "neither Moldova nor Ukraine are ready to give the appropriate permissions to transit through their territory or turn around through their territory."
2022 attack
Following an
attack on the security ministry building earlier in the same day, at 23:30 on 25 April 2022, the airport was attacked from the air, possibly by a
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
*Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
; two explosives had been dropped on the air base of the airport. The windows and hood of a
ZIL-131
The ZIL-131 is a general purpose 3.5 tonne 6x6 army truck designed in the Soviet Union by Zavod Imeni Likhacheva, ZIL. The basic model being a general cargo truck. Variants include a tractor-trailer truck, a dump truck, a fuel truck, and a 6x6 fo ...
truck were damaged. There also were reports on that day that a military unit of the
Armed Forces of Transnistria
The Armed Forces of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic ( ro, Forțele armate ale Republicii Moldovenești Nistrene, Moldovan Cyrillic: Форцеле армате але Републичий Молдовенешть Нистрене; russian: ...
had been attacked near
Parcani Parcani may refer to:
* Parcani, Prozor, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Parcani, Şoldăneşti, a commune in Moldova
* Parcani, Soroca, a commune in Moldova
*Parcani, Transnistria, a commune in Moldova
*Parcani, a village in Răciula Commune ...
. The Transnistrian authorities did not officially confirm the explosions in the Tiraspol Airport, which were initially reported by Moldova. It was later clarified that both reports referred to the same event at the air base in Tiraspol.
See also
*
List of airports in Transnistria
References
Notes
External links
{{authority control
Defunct airports
Airports in Moldova
Tiraspol