Sochi International Airport

Sochi International Airport (Russian: Международный Аэропорт Сочи; IATA: AER, ICAO: URSS) is an international airport located in the Adler District of the resort city of Sochi, on the coast of the Black Sea in the federal subject of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Sochi International Airport is among the ten largest Russian airports, with an annual passenger turnover of 5.2 million.^[2]

Sochi International Airport

Международный Аэропорт Сочи

public / military

Oleg Deripaska
through Basic Element

Sochi International Airport, JSC

Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia

27 m / 89 ft

43°27′00″N 039°57′24″E / 43.45000°N 39.95667°E / 43.45000; 39.95667

aer.aero

6,343,869

21,174

UTC +3

24/7, All Year

The airport is run by an international joint venture of Basic Element group, Sberbank and Changi Airports International. The airport has been recognized as the best regional airport at the 3rd annual forum "Development of Russia and CIS airports – 2013",^[3] held by Adam Smith Conference. Sochi International Airport was the main gateway during the 2014 Winter Olympics. It served over 350,000 passengers on February 1–28, 2014. Over 2,800 tons of luggage was handled during the Olympic period.^[4]

Infrastructure[edit]

Runways[edit]

Sochi International Airport has two paved runways; combined with its taxiways network it has a total length of 4310 meters and a width of 40.5 m of paved tarmac. The platform and parking lot have a total area of 218 square meters, with spaces for more than 1000 cars. Because of the presence of natural obstacles (mountains) to the north and north-east of the airport, take off and landing are only possible on the sea side of the facility. The airport authority plans to extend the 06/24 runway up to 3.5 km, with a portion overlapping the Mzymta River at a width of 300 m.

The Sochi airport is certificated by Aviation Register of the MAC for its suitability for international flights. It has the ability to receive the following aircraft types: Airbus A310, Airbus A319/320/321, Airbus A350, Boeing 727, Boeing 737/747/757/767/777, CRJ 200, Fokker 70. IL-62, IL-76, IL-86, IL-96, Tu-134, Tu-144, Tu-154, Tu-204, Yak-40, Yak-42 and other planes III and IV classes. Since 2007, the airport takes aircraft of all types.

Main terminal[edit]

The capacity of the airport complex is 750 passengers per hour/ 2500 passengers per day. The current terminal building was open to public in 2007. It has 3 floors with total area of 62,000 square meters and is one of the largest in Russia. The airport has 440 meters of corridor space and 10 boarding bridges for boarding and deplaning passengers. The airport received extensive renovations in anticipation of the 2014 Winter Olympics.

On 20 November 2006, the airport was auctioned to Oleg Deripaska's Basic Element group for 5.5 billion roubles (about $206.6 million). Deripaska is also a member of the committee organizing Sochi's bid for the Winter Olympics.^[15]

The Sochi Airport railway station is located directly next to the terminal and connected via walkway bridge.

On 28 July 1962, , an Antonov An-10 crashed into the mountains near Sochi Airport, killing all 81 people aboard.^[79]

Aeroflot Flight 415

On 1 October 1972, an Ilyushin Il-18V operating Aeroflot Flight 1036 crashed shortly after departure from Sochi Airport into the Black Sea, killing all 109 passengers and crew. The cause of the accident was never determined.^[80]

Aeroflot

On 3 May 2006, an Airbus A320-200 operating Armavia Flight 967 crashed in the Black Sea en route from Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport to Sochi. The airplane crashed into the sea while attempting to conduct a go-around following its first approach to Sochi airport, killing all 113 aboard. The accident was the first major commercial airline crash in 2006.^[81]

Armavia

On 25 December 2016, a Tupolev Tu-154 disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi. The aircraft was found to have crashed on the Black Sea. All 92 people on board, including the members of Russian military choir Alexandrov Ensemble were killed in the crash. The flight had originated in Moscow and was flying to Latakia in Syria.^[82]^[83]^[84]^[85]^[86]

Russian military

On 1 September 2018, , A Boeing 737-800 operating the flight, overran the runway, came to a stop in a river bed past the runway, and caught fire. 18 of the 164 passengers were injured, some from burns, some from carbon monoxide poisoning. One airport worker died during cleanup. The plane landed with a strong tail wind in heavy rain. The wind direction was changing quickly before the accident. There had already been attempts to land before the accident.^[87]

Sochi International Airport