Sukhumi Babushara Airport
| Sukhumi Babushara Airport | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | UGSS |
| IATA code | SUI |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 9 m (30 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 1 km north of Babushara |
| Street | Sokhumi Airport Road |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1960s |
| operator | Novaport |
| Start-and runway | |
| 12/30 | 3640 m × 52 m concrete |
The airport Sukhumi-Babuschara (IATA: SUI , ICAO: UGSS ), formerly known as Airport Sukhumi-Dranda known is the main airport of Abkhazia . It is located in the village of Babushara next to the larger village of Dranda and about 20 kilometers from Sukhumi , the capital of the autonomous republic.
history
The airport was built in the mid-1960s when the region was still part of the Soviet Union. After the airport was built, it became an important logistical point, with regular flights to many Soviet cities and helicopters to various settlements within Abkhazia. Passenger flights also took place during the Soviet era, mainly to bring people from all over the Soviet Union to the sunny beaches of Abkhazia. At the end of the 1970s, the concrete runways were thickened so that the airport could accommodate heavy Il-76 aircraft . In the 1980s a new airport building was built while the runway was being extended to allow Il-86 aircraft to land there.
Sukhumi Airport was able to accommodate various passenger planes with a mass of up to 125 tons.
The airport was badly damaged during the civil war in the early 1990s. Landmines and other explosive war mines have since been cleared from the airport by the HALO Trust , the only landmine-clearing agency operating in Abkhazia.
As a result of the war, the airport was initially abandoned. There were plans to revitalize the airport, and repairs were even carried out between 1998 and 2000. It was put back into operation; a restaurant inside was open for a while. In 1999 a load of glass was supplied to glaze the walls of the airport, but in July 2000 a tornado destroyed elements of the new glazing.
In 2006 the government of the Republic of Abkhazia expressed its wish to resume international air transport in the future; however, the facility is not recognized by the ICAO as an international airport and flights can only be permitted with the approval of the Georgian government. Even when Russia officially recognized Abkhazia as a sovereign state in 2008, Russian airlines did not fly to Sukhumi to avoid IATA sanctions.
In the meantime (from 2006) the airport was used for flights to the mountain village of Pschu .
On August 11, 2008, during the war in South Ossetia , Russian military transport aircraft landed at the airport for the first time in 15 years. Over 30 Il-76 aircraft delivered paratroopers and military equipment. On September 14, 2008, the airport received the first commercial aircraft in 15 years. The plane had Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on board.
In July 2011, the Russian company Novaport took over Sukhumi-Babushara Airport.
The airport building was renovated in 2011, and it was supposed to be back in operation in 2013, but it never did. Thus, when the airport was ready to accept passengers and coordinate busy flights, it stood empty and slowly deteriorated. It is still used occasionally by the Abkhaz Air Force and private excursion planes. There are still a few Tu-134 and Tu-154 planes left at the airport.
In Abkhazia there is another airport near Gudauta that serves the Russian military troops stationed there.
Incidents
- On September 20, 1993, a Tupolev Tu-134 A of Orbi Georgian Airways ( aircraft registration number 4L-65809 ) without passengers or crew at Sukhumi-Babushara airport was destroyed on the ground by fire with rockets or firearms.
- On September 21, 1993, a Tupolev Tu-134 of Transair Georgia (4L-65893) was shot down by Abkhaz separatists while approaching Sukhumi-Babushara airport . The machine was hit by a Russian Strela-2 missile and fell into the sea. All 27 occupants were killed, 5 crew members and 22 passengers.
- On September 22, 1993 a Tupolev Tu-154 of Transair Georgia (4L-85163) was shot down while approaching Sukhumi-Babushara airport with a Russian anti-aircraft missile fired by Abkhaz insurgents. Of the 132 occupants, 108 were killed, 8 crew members and 100 passengers.
- On September 23, 1993, a Tupolev Tu-154 B-2 of Orbi Georgian Airways (4L-85359) parked at Sukhumi-Babushara Airport was destroyed by mortar or artillery fire.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Aero Data: SUKHUMI DRANDA. Retrieved January 24, 2019 .
- ↑ Accident statistics at Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 24, 2019.
- ↑ a b c The Abandoned Vozdvizhenka Air Base & Aircraft. In: Abandoned Spaces. July 11, 2018, accessed January 31, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Sukhum’s Airport May Soon Resume Operation. September 28, 2007, accessed January 24, 2019 .
- ↑ Civil.Ge | Russia's Novaport to Take Over Abkhaz Airport. May 17, 2018, accessed January 24, 2019 .
- ↑ incident report Tu-134 4L-65809 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 11, 2020th
- ↑ rzjets: Tu-134 4L-65893 (English), accessed on August 11, 2020.
- ^ Accident report Tu-134 4L-65893 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 17, 2020.
- ^ Accident report Tu-154 4L-85163 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 11, 2020.
- ↑ incident report Tu-154 4L-85359 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 11, 2020th