Simferopol International Airport Міжнародний аеропорт "Сімферополь" Международный аэропорт "Симферополь" Aqmescit Halqara Ava Limanı | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Serves | Crimea | ||||||||||
| Location | Simferopol,Crimea | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1936 | ||||||||||
| Closed | temporarily since 2022 | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 597 ft / 182 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 45°03′07″N33°58′25″E / 45.05194°N 33.97361°E /45.05194; 33.97361 | ||||||||||
| Website | new.sipaero.ru/en/ | ||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||
.jpg)  SIP Location of the airport in Crimea Show map of Crimea SIP Location of the airport in Europe Show map of Europe | |||||||||||
 Interactive map of Simferopol International Airport | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2021) | |||||||||||
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Simferopol International Airport[a] is an airport located inSimferopol,Crimea. Since theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, the airport is only used for flights to and from Russian airports due tolimited international recognition of the annexation. As of 24 February 2022, all flights are suspended due to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.
On 14 May 2015, theVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted to rename itAmet-khan Sultan International Airport in memory ofAmet-khan Sultan,[2] despite that Russia occupied Crimea and controlled the airport since 2014. Another airport named after Amet-khan Sultan isUytash Airport located inMakhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. However, in 2018, citizens voted for the airport to be named after the painterIvan Aivazovsky after Amet-khan's name was not allowed in the list of final three options to vote for despite being the most popular in the preliminary round of voting.[3][4][5]
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On 21 January 1936, the Council of People's Commissars of the Crimean Autonomous Republic decided to allocate land and begin construction of the Simferopol Airport. Simferopol to Moscow flights began in May 1936. Before theSecond World War, regular air travel was established between Simferopol andKyiv,Kharkiv, and other airports. In 1957, a terminal was commissioned. Lighting equipment was installed on a dirt runway andIL-12,IL-14, andMi-4 aircraft began landing at the airport. In 1960, a concrete runway with an apron and parking areas was constructed. The airport began to operate around the clock and in adverse weather conditions, using new aircraft such asAntonov An-10 andIL-18. In the 1950s and 1960s, theAN-2 carried cargo and passenger flights to regional centers of theCrimea, and theMi-4 flew toYalta. In the summer of 1960, a squadron ofTu-104 was organized for the first time inUkrainian SSR. Starting in 1964, theAn-24 was based at the airport.
Construction of the second runway, designed forIL-86,IL-76,IL-62, andTu-154 aircraft, began in 1977. On 19 May 1982, Simferopol airport was the first inUkrainian SSR to have a wide-IL-86. In subsequent years, this type of aircraft made an average of 5.6 daily flights to Moscow. In the summer of 1989, the airport was designated as a "western alternate airport" for landing theBuran spacecraft. In the early 2000s, the old runway 01R/19L (length 2700 m, PCN 22/R/B/X/T, accommodating a maximum weight of aircraft of 98 tonnes) was taken out of service because of its insufficient length and strength. Since then, it has been used as taxiway D with a length of 2100 m (the remaining 600 meters are unsuitable for taxiing). The second runway (01/19) is now in operation and is longer, wider and accommodates heavier aircraft.
Following the2014 Crimean crisis, Russian forces took control of the airport on 28 February 2014. Crimean airspace was closed and air traffic was disrupted for two days.[6][7] On 11 March, Russian forces[citation needed] took over the control tower and closed Crimean airspace until the end of week. Ukraine International Flight PS65 was denied landing and diverted to Kyiv.[8][9] With the Russian Takeover of the Airport, theInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) expressed concerns about the safety of international flights in the region and recommended airlines to avoid Crimean airspace. By the same token on 3 March 2014, theEuropean Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol), who also did not recognize the unilateral takeover of Ukrainian airspace by another country, had confirmed that the majority of transitional air routes have been closed, in accordance with theChicago Convention. Ukrainian airlines also suspended routes to Simferopol.[10]
Under the Russian control (Russia not being a member of Eurocontrol), the airport operates flights only to destinations in Russia. In June 2014,Prime Minister of Russia,Dmitry Medvedev, signed aGovernment resolution No.960[11] to open the airport for international flights, however, as of March 2016 no international flights were operated.[citation needed] On 29 July 2014, Rosaviation granted Chechen airlineGrozny Avia permission to operate nonstop flights from Simferopol to the Armenian capital ofYerevan and Turkish cities ofIstanbul andAntalya. However, these flights were technically domestic since they operated with a stopover inAnapa. Both of the routes were suspended the same year.[12]
In May 2015, theUkrainian Parliament voted in favor of renaming the Simferopol airport in honor of the Crimean-Tatar war heroAmet-khan Sultan. The airport's management team has responded that the authority to decree such changes is vested in the Russian government, and that they do not feel the need to respond to the Ukrainian parliament's ruling.[13] RussianState Duma deputy,Vasiliy Likhachyov, has also released a statement dismissing this ruling as having no official authority.[14]
In May 2016, construction began of a new terminal building, with a larger hall on a wave-like structure and 8 gates for flights. The new terminal was opened on 16 April 2018, with the first arrival at 8:30 AM ofNordwind Airlines fromMoscow-Sheremetyevo, followed by other flights. The terminal was previously checked by 400 volunteers on 12 April 2018. The current terminal will be for VIP, business passengers and some space is going to be converted to the trolleybus and bus terminal.[15][16]
This new terminal is 1 km west from the old terminal, between the main runway and the old one, making the eastern part of the airport useless. Eventually, the old runway (01R/19L) will be rebuilt and, with the runways being spaced >1 km apart, would be capable of parallel runway operations, like atDomodedovo,Berlin orMunich. The new terminal has 8 gates to air-bridges and 8 gates to apron buses, 16 escalators and 28 lifts, 55 check-in counters and the airport terminal is able to handle 6 million passenger annually.[17][18]
In 2021, the airport became the sixth busiest one in Russia and occupied terrorities with 6.83 million passengers transiting through the airport, only behind the 3 Moscow airports (Sheremetyevo,Domodedovo andVnukovo), St Petersburg'sPulkovo andSochi/Adler airport.[19]
From March 2014 onwards, all flights to/from Simferopol Airport with the exception of flights originating from Russia were cancelled due to Crimea's annexation by the Russian Federation. A flight to Istanbul, Turkey, was operated on 19 July 2014, and a flight to Yerevan, Armenia, was operated on 16 November 2014[20] byGrozny Avia, a Chechen airline. Technically both of these flights were not international because they had a stopover inAnapa Airport.[21][22]
Dobrolyot, a Russian government-owned low-cost airline, was sanctioned by theEuropean Union for operating flights to Simferopol. The airline was forced to close less than two months after it started operations.
As of 24 February 2022, all flights are suspended due to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.
| Year | Passengers | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 751,000 |  12.2% |
| 2010 | 845,000 |  12% |
| 2011 | 964,000 | 14.9% |
| 2012 | 1,114,000 | 15.6% |
| 2013 | 1,204,000 | 8.9% |
| 2014 | 2,800,000 | 133% |
| 2015 | 5,017,758 | 79% |
| 2016 | 5,201,690 | 3.7% |
| 2017 | 5,128,738 | 1.4% |
| 2018 | 5,146,095 | 0.3% |
| 2019 | 5,140,000 | 0.1% |
| 2020 | 4,630,000 | 9.9% |
| 2021 | 6,830,000 | 47.5% |
Trolleybus Route 9 runs from the airport to theSimferopol railway station (and Kurortnaya bus station).
In 2015, a new direct express route has been launched. 24-hour Transexpress buses and trolleybuses connect the airport with the Simferopol Railway station in the city centre.[41] The route was launched in May 2015 byCrimean Trolleybus, and runs every 10 minutes without stops in both directions.[42]
Intercity trolleybus routes 54 and 55 run to the cities of Alushta, Yalta and resorts between them on the Southern Coast of Crimea. Route #55 Simferopol - Yalta, reestablished in April 2014, is known to be the world's longesttrolleybus route.[43]
The airport is connected with Sevastopol bus station by direct bus route.
