Şymkent International Airport () is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

serving

Shymkent Shymkent (, ; ) is a city in southern Kazakhstan, located near the border with Uzbekistan. It holds the status of a city of republican significance, one of only three cities in Kazakhstan with this distinction, alongside Almaty and Astana. As of ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. It has two passenger terminals and one runway. It serves as the main hub for

SCAT Airlines SCAT Airlines, legally PLL SCAT Air Company, is an airline from Kazakhstan with its head office at Shymkent International Airport in Şymkent. It operates services to all major cities of Kazakhstan and neighboring countries. Its main base is Şymk ...

, handling a large part of the airline's flights.

History

Foundation and early years

The airport was established on an agricultural airbase constructed in 1932. The airport started managing both passenger and freight traffic in 1933. The runway and passenger terminal of the airport were completed in 1967 after the airport was relocated to its current position in 1963.

Development since the 2000s

Following the signing of an agreement in November 2012 by the governments of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

, Şymkent Airport was made available to French personnel withdrawing from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. After arriving on French aircraft, military weaponry was carried from the airport by train to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In order to guarantee the transshipment operations at Şymkent Airport,

was to provide the funding for the construction of the infrastructure required for the temporary bond storage and the space needed for stricter customs checks. Additionally, it paid for the purchase or rental of loading vehicles, to accelerate wagon loading, construction of a 400 m (1,300 ft) hard-surface road, and the protection of freight in temporary storage and during transportation on

's railroad. The airport experienced a 20% increase in passenger traffic, rising from 440,000 passengers in 2014 to 520,000 passengers in 2017.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Accidents and incidents

On November 12, 1996, Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an IL-76TD which took off from Şymkent International Airport collided with Saudia Flight 763, a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

which took off from

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving New Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of ,

, in the air over

Charkhi Dadri Charkhi Dadri is a city and the headquarters of Charkhi Dadri district in the Indian state of Haryana, about 90 km from the national capital Delhi. The town was made by joining the villages of Charkhi and Dadri after urban development. Ch ...

, Haryana, India. All 289 passengers and 23 crew on Flight 763 and all 27 passengers and 10 crew on Flight 1907 were killed. A total of 349 people died, making it the deadliest ever

mid-air collision In aviation, a mid-air collision is an aviation accident, accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. The potential for a mid-air collision is increased by Aviation communication, miscommunication, mistrus ...

involving two aircraft.

References

External links

Official website
Airports in Kazakhstan Airports built in the Soviet Union {{authority control