Karaganda (airport): history, current state

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Sary-Arka Airport (Karaganda) is one of the largest airports in Kazakhstan. Below is its history and current state.

Location

This object is located in the eastern part, approximately in the center of Kazakhstan. Nearby is the city of Karaganda. The airport is located 22 km away. On the one hand, this location is beneficial, since the center of the country has convenient access to major cities. However, this also creates difficulties due to the fact that most of the passenger traffic is intercepted by the nearby capital airport.

History

Many cities of Kazakhstan acquired airports in the 30s. of the last century, including Karaganda. The airport in the city appeared in 1934. Initially, flights were carried out here on U-2 aircraft.

The first settlement with which regular communication was opened in 1937 was the city of Alma-Ata. The flights were operated by PS-9 aircraft.
In 1944, the airport was moved to the "New City".
After 10 years, the construction of service facilities began.
In 1959a runway and a one-story airport building were erected. It was given the name Karaganda (City).
In 1961, the Il-14, flying from Alma-Ata to Moscow, was replaced by the Il-18, due to which the flight time was reduced from 15 hours to 4 hours. 20 min.
The following year, the network of flights provided by Karaganda Airport was expanded: the flight schedule was replenished with transit routes from Tashkent to Omsk, from Alma-Ata to Adler and Kyiv.
In 1963, a flight from Alma-Ata to Leningrad was opened. The fleet was replenished with An-24 aircraft, which began to be used mainly on Kazakhstani airlines. In addition, a hotel for transit passengers was opened.
In 1964, routes were added from Alma-Ata to Simferopol and from Frunze to Novosibirsk.
The following year, the Alma-Ata-Leningrad flight was supplemented with intermediate points.
In 1967, a flight from Alma-Ata to Riga was opened.
From 1973, the operation of the terminal attached to the airport building began.
By the end of the 70s. the number of cities with which regular flights from Karaganda were established exceeded 50.
In 1980, a new airport was built - Karaganda (Central), and its operation began.
By the mid-80s. the aircraft fleet was completely transferred here.

The old Karaganda airport was originally converted into a military one, placing a helicopter unit here. In the early 90s. it was closed and later rebuilt as it was deep within the city.

In 1992The central airport was renamed SaryArka Airport. Karaganda also received the status of an international airport. In 1996, a new terminal was opened, and in 2002 it was modernized again.

Since 2006, another reconstruction began. Financing for it in the amount of 4.8 billion tenge was allocated by BTA Bank JSC. The modernization included an increase in the runway: the length of the runway was changed, parking lots and taxiways were expanded. In addition, a Class A cargo terminal was built for storage and handling of goods, equipped with an automated accounting and control system, refrigerators, packaging and warehousing, fire extinguishing and security systems. Its area is 3456 m2, throughput capacity is 30 thousand tons/year. Moreover, it functions in two modes: as a temporary storage warehouse and as a customs warehouse. We also worked with the passenger area. For the first time since the change of name and status in 1992, the halls of local and international departures and the VIP room were modernized. The building was equipped with ventilation and air heating systems. Expanded services. The system for delivering passengers to aircraft was changed: buses were replaced with telescopic ladders.

As a result of the modernization completed in 2008, the airport's capacity increased from 6.2 million to 7.5 million people/year, and cargo turnover increased from 95,000 to 163,000 tons/year., mail - from 10 thousand to 12 thousand tons / year. Thanks to this, according to President Daulet Khamzin, if Alma-Ata and Astana airports are passenger centers, then the cargo center has becomecity of Karaganda. The airport interested foreign air carriers with its capabilities.

In 2009, Blu wings operated Karaganda-Dusseldorf flights and Lufthansa Cargo Charter transit Hong Kong-Frankfurt.
A flight to Sochi was launched in 2010.
In 2011, World Airways authorized the technical center "Sary-Arka" to service Boeing 747 and MD-11. After that, the company launched a Shanghai-Helsinki transit flight. The Karaganda-Helsinki and Karaganda-Yekaterinburg routes were also opened.
In 2013, the airport passed ISAGO certification.
In 2015, a direct flight to Grozny was opened.

Current state

Now Sary-Arka is one of the largest airports in Kazakhstan. It has one runway for aircraft of any class. The capacity of the terminal is 1200 people/hour. Sary-Arka can serve 2.5 million people per year. and 18 thousand tons of cargo. In addition to civil aviation, aircraft of the air force of Kazakhstan are based on it.

Problems

The main problem of the airport is the lack of passengers. This is due to the proximity to the second airport in Kazakhstan in terms of passenger traffic, Astana, which is located only 200 km from it. Naturally, the capital is more popular than Karaganda. Astana Airport after modernization has significantly reduced passenger traffic in Karaganda. And now it is in the process of another restoration aimed at increasing passenger traffic. As a result, the capacity of the Karaganda airportonly 10% involved.

Legal position

In 1996, the Sary-Arka Airport open joint-stock company was established with the full participation of the state in the authorized capital. The following year, the company changed its status to OJSC. In 1998, a block of shares was registered in the amount of 89,551. In 2003, the name was changed again to JSC, and the number of shares increased by 120 units. In 2005, the Department of Finance of the Karaganda region held an open investment tender, where Sky Service LLP acquired a block of shares.