Sochi (airport)

The airfield in the Adler district was built to protect the Black Sea coast during World War II . The construction of the airfield began on July 9, 1941 on the territory of the Chernomorets seed farm. An airfield with one unpaved runway, a one-story headquarters building of 20 m² and equipped parking for aircraft were built in record time (50 days) by residents of Sochi under the guidance of engineer Ivan Gavrilovich Shevkunenko. September 1, 1941 the airfield took the first combat aircraft. Since 1942, the regiments of the 5th Air Army, under the command of Lieutenant General of Aviation Sergey Kondratievich Goryunov and a number of other units of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Front, were based at the airport ^[4] .

Adler Airport was officially formed by order of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet of November 23, 1945 No. 236 for flights and maintenance of high-speed aircraft Li-2 , Il-12 . The airport in the Sochi River Valley, which served civilian aircraft since 1929, was closed, its territory was transferred to the city for the construction of residential quarters, and all equipment was transferred to Adler Airport.

In 1956, the terminal building (now the old building) and the runway-1 were built. Over 1957 the airport sent about 35 thousand passengers and 1 thousand tons of cargo. From 1960 to 1965 , passenger and baggage pavilions, a hotel with 200 seats, radio navigation and landing systems were built. Passenger traffic through the airport was constantly growing. In 1965 over 902 thousand passengers were dispatched, in 1990 - 2 million 300 thousand.

In August 1966, the airport was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for high performance.

In 1967, Adler Airport was renamed the Sochi Airport of the North Caucasian Civil Aviation Administration.

In 1981 , regular flights began: from Sochi to Bratislava , Budapest , Prague . Later, many flights to the Middle East and Western Europe opened.

In 2009, a new high-tech terminal building was commissioned. In total, over 60 million passengers have been sent by the airport over the entire period of operation. In the international sector of the airport there is a duty-free shop.

May 31, 2019 the airport was named after V.I. Sevastyanov ^[2] .

Sochi airfield of the first class, has two artificial runways , a network of taxiways with a total length of 4310 m and a width of 40.5 m, apron and parking lots with a total area of ​​219 thousand square meters. m. ^[5] A feature of the aerodrome is that due to the presence of natural obstacles (mountains) to the north and northeast of the aerodrome, landing is carried out only on one side - from the sea. For the same reason, takeoff is carried out in the strictly opposite direction.

Sochi Airport is certified by the IAC Aviation Register for suitability for international flights ^[6] . Since 2007, it has been operational for all types of aircraft, including: A-330 and its modifications, Boeing-747, Boeing-777 (-200, −300, −200LR, −300ER).

The new terminal building was built in 1989 - 2007 , covering an area of ​​65,000 m² and is one of the largest in Russia. At the end of 2013, the construction of a new landing gallery and 10 teletraps was completed ^[7] . There is the possibility of parking more than 1000 cars. The capacity of the airport complex is 2,500 passengers / hour. In December 2013, a new VIP terminal was commissioned. The terminal area is 4 thousand square meters. It was built next to the main airport complex. The terminal has five rooms for business events and meetings ^[8] .

During the 2014 Winter Olympics, the airport capacity reached 3800 passengers per hour, which fully complies with the requirements of the International Olympic Committee . On peak days, the airport was able to provide 575 take-off and landing operations per day, which is comparable to the traffic intensity at the largest airports in the world ^[9] .

Since October 19, 2014, the airport has been operating under the “open skies” regime (the “fifth degree of freedom of air” ^[10] ), which has made it possible to open many new international destinations. With this degree of freedom, foreign companies can board in Russia and take passengers and cargo when flying to a third state from the country in which they are registered.

In 2015, the International Airport Council, Sochi, along with Sheremetyevo and Pulkovo, were recognized as the best in Europe in terms of service ^[11] .

As of May 2019, Sochi Airport serves flights of the following airlines:

On April 20, 2013, the terminal of Sochi International Airport began receiving city buses . For maximum convenience, public transport is provided for access via a ramp located at the second floor of the airport complex for disembarking passengers: from the ramp they can directly get into the waiting room and airport registration areas, bypassing stairs, elevators and escalators. There are three transit routes No. 105 (Sochi Bus Station - Rosa Khutor GLK from 5.20 a.m. to 11.15 p.m., and its 105-s accelerated version, without arrival at Khosta and Kudepsta, from 6 a.m. to 11.35 p.m., both options give a traffic interval of 13 up to 25 minutes), 131 (5 times a day) and 135 (Adler (Trud Stadium)) - Rosa Khutor GLK, from 7 to 23.35 hours, interval - 30 minutes).

Passengers and other visitors to the airport will land at the entrance of the terminal located on the ground floor of the airport terminal. Public transport stops are located in close proximity to the arrivals and baggage claim areas.

Construction of the Sochi Airport platform and overpasses was started in 2009 , and on February 15, 2012, the Aeroexpress electric trains run from the Airport through Adler, Hosta and Matsesta to Sochi (from May 1, 2013, the Lastochka electric train) 4 times a day ( in the opposite direction, to the airport - 5 times) at intervals of 3 to 6 hours ^[21] . Travel time is about 45 minutes, the maximum speed is 160 km / h, the fare is from 200 to 350 rubles ^[22] .

From December 20, 2014 to June 30, 2015, the movement of suburban electric trains from the Sochi Airport station was suspended by decision of Russian Railways. ^[23]

Starting June 30, 2015, the movement of suburban electric trains from the Sochi Airport station was resumed. The fare is 17 rubles per suburban area. Thus, travel to the Airport from the Sochi station costs 51 rubles ^[21] .

• On Saturday, July 28, 1962, near the village of Orekhovo (Arasahu) in the Gagra region (Abkhaz ASSR, Georgian SSR), the An-10A accident of Aeroflot company crashed. The plane operated flight 415 (Lviv — Simferopol — Sochi), when, when landing at the Sochi airport, Adler crashed into a mountain twenty kilometers from it. All 81 people on board died.

• On October 1, 1972 at 19:40, an IL-18 plane following the Sochi – Moscow flight crashed with 109 passengers on board (there were no survivors): the plane crashed into water at a speed of about 300 km / h and sank at a depth of 600 meters in a crevice, at the mouth of the Mzymta River (the distance from the crash site to the coastline is about 2 km). Probable causes of the accident: failure of the fuel system, engines or a heart attack in the pilot.

• In November 1990, the Tu-154 aircraft , following the flight Yerevan - Sochi - Riga, landed without a left landing gear.
• On May 3, 2006, the Airbus A320 of Armavia Airlines, which was heading for Sochi from Yerevan , crashed a few kilometers from the coast while performing a landing approach. All 113 people on board died. ^[24]

• On June 25, 2015 , water penetrated the first floor of the airport terminal complex in the Adler and Khostinsky districts of Sochi.
• December 25, 2016 Tu-154 of the Russian Ministry of Defense fell into the Black Sea a few minutes after the departure. Onboard there were 92 people.
• On September 1, 2018, the Utair airline passenger plane Boeing 737-800, which was flying from Moscow, caught fire after landing at the airport in Sochi. As a result of the incident, 18 people were injured ^[25] . The aircraft rolled out of the runway and collided with a fence. None of the passengers and crew members were killed. Later, an airport employee who assisted with the evacuation died of a heart attack. ^[26]

By presidential decree of May 3, 2006 N456, Sochi airport was excluded from the list of strategic enterprises previously approved by decree of August 4, 2004 N1009.

At a meeting on August 29, 2006, the Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM) of Russia registered the issue and report on the results of the issue of ordinary registered uncertified shares of Sochi International Airport JSC for a total of 1 billion 142 million 035 thousand 400 rubles. The placement took place through the acquisition of shares of the joint stock company by the Russian Federation during the transformation into a public company of a state enterprise in the privatization process.

The number of securities of the issue is 11 million 420 thousand 354 pieces, the nominal value of each share is 100 rubles. The issue is assigned state registration number 1-01-55219-E.

The runway is not privatized property and is leased at the airport.

The RF Government by order of September 16, N1301-r, included 100% of the shares of Sochi International Airport JSC in the privatization program of federal property for 2006. ^[27] On November 20, 2006, the Russian Federal Property Fund held an auction to sell 100% of the shares of OAO International Sochi Airport. " The winner of the auction was Strategy-South LLC, an entity affiliated with BazEl ( Basic Element , until 2001, the Siberian Aluminum Group), which paid 5 billion 503 million 665 thousand rubles. ^{[28] The} airport in Sochi became the fourth in the south of Russia for the Russian-Asian Investment Company (RAINKO, the real owner is Oleg Deripaska ). By this time, the company had already managed, through the “Airports of the South” holding , three airports - in the cities of Krasnodar ( Pashkovsky Airport ), Anapa and under construction at that time in Gelendzhik. ^[29] In July 2007 , Basel acquired CJSC Sochi-avia-invest, the owner of 65% of the fuel-filling complex at Sochi Airport. ^[thirty]

• In December 2010, in New Zealand, a 1-dollar coin was issued with a miniature of the Sochi airport building ^[31] .
• In June 2016, Sochi Airport set a new record: for a day, passenger traffic in the air harbor amounted to 24.8 thousand people, which is 300 people higher than the previous record ^[32] .