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Sources: Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (see also provisional 2018 statistics)[1]
Ğabdulla Tuqay Kazan International Airport (Tatar:Казан Халыкара Аэропорты,romanized: Qazan Xalıqara Aeroportı, Russian:Международный аэропорт Казань; IATA:KZN, ICAO:UWKD) is aninternational airport in Russia, around 25 km southeast ofKazan. It is the largest airport inTatarstan andone of the busiest airports in Russia as well as inPost-Soviet States. Kazan International Airport served more than 5 million passengers in 2023.[2] In 2019 Airport was renamed to commemorate aVolga Tatar poet, critic, publisher, and towering figure ofTatar literatureĞabdulla Tuqay.[3]
Kazan 2 was completed on 15 September 1979. On 28 September 1984, Kazan 1 (located inside the city) was shut down, and Kazan 2 was renamed Kazan Domestic Airport. On 21 February 1986, Kazan Airport gained international rank. This was a drastic announcement because theUSSR Council of Ministers only rarely allowed its citizens to fly out of theUSSR.
In 1991, after thefall of the Soviet Union, the Tatarstan region separated from the USSR's singleAeroflot airline and createdTatarstan Airlines. This airline didn't gain an efficient amount of investments in its 22 years of service, and its operating license was officially terminated on 31 December 2013 after adisaster.[4]
On 26 October 1992, Kazan got its first international regular flight: Kazan – Istanbul – Kazan. This flight was (and still is) operated byTurkish Airlines and 145 annual trips are made to and from Istanbul, making it the most popular international route.
In 2008, Tatarstan's president,Mintimer Shaimiev, after winning the bid for the2013 Summer Universiade, began creating a set of major reform projects in Kazan. Apart from repairing the streets, bringing in investments, the integrating English language, and improving the bus route system in Kazan, Shaimiev also began to completely redesign Kazan's airport. He designed the blueprints for Terminal 1A and planned out the complete refining of the airport between 2008 and 2025. Shaimiev's successor and today's president of Tatarstan,Rustam Minnikhanov, used the blueprints, which were made in 2009, to begin the construction of Terminal 1A and a complete redesign of Terminal 1 (essentially also a new reconstruction).
First, a new 3,700-meter runway was built, andedge lights were added on both of the runways. This made it possible for the airport to operate 24/7. In 2012, a newairport fire station was built. In 2012, the construction of Terminal 1A began. Later that year, Terminal 1 began its own renovation. Terminal 1A was officially opened on 7 November 2012. Terminal 1 finished renovations on 22 June 2013.
Today, the new airport has more than 30check-in slots and sevenconveyor belts. It has three separate duty-free shops, selling merchandise such as alcohol, cigars and cigarettes, chocolates. It offers popular brands such asCosta coffee. The airport can sustain around three million passengers. Further expansions and the creation of Terminal 2 will occur before the2018 FIFA World Cup.
Following theSkytrax Airport and Airline Awards, Kazan Airport was nominated for 4 stars in 2014 and was called Russia's and CIS's best airport.
Following the opening of new air routes and an increase in flights through existing routes, the Kazan Airport reached a record of 2.5 million passengers transported in less than a year at the beginning of December 2017.[5]
On 17 November 2013,Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363, aBoeing 737-500, operating forTatarstan Airlines, crashed while attempting to land at the airport. All 44 passengers and six crew members died.[43] Investigations revealed the pilot had not completed his primary flight training, a revelation which then led Russia'sFederal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) to revoke hundreds of pilots' licenses.[44]
On 21 December 2016, a man drove his car through the airport's terminal while under the influence of drugs, causing an estimated 6,000,000Russian rubles (US$100,000) in damage. The suspect, identified as Ruslan Nurtdinov, was charged with violating traffic rules, endangerment, and drug trafficking.[45][46]
^"Головной офисArchived 3 March 2009 at theWayback Machine." Tatarstan Airlines. Retrieved on 28 October 2010. "420144, Россия, Татарстан, г. Казань, Аэропорт"
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