There are 2 airports in Petrozavodsk : Besovets and Sands. We will give a brief description of each of them.
Airport "Petrozavodsk" ("Besovets")
Petrozavodsk (also known as Besovets) is a Petrozavodsk airport located 12 km north of the city. It was founded in August 1939. It can receive Il-76, Tu-134, An-12 aircraft, aircraft of 3-4 classes (An-24, Yak-40 and lighter), as well as helicopters of all types. The maximum possible take-off weight is 150 tons.
The airport "Petrozavodsk" is intended for joint basing, because on its territory there is also an air base, where the SU-27 is in service. As for passenger traffic, he accepts flights from all major cities of Russia, as well as from the CIS countries. Today, Petrozavodsk Airport sells 10-30 flights per day, which is quite acceptable for this class.
A small historical background
Petrozavodsk Airport was founded in 1939. During the occupation (1941-1944), it was used by Finland. On September 1, 1950, the construction of a new airport began, which in the first years of its existence was operated by the USSR Ministry of Defense. Over time, new office buildings opened on its territory. In 1990, an international flight was first made. In 1994, after the reorganization of the Petrozavodsk airline, it was transformed into the State
Aviation Enterprise (GAP) “Besovets Airport” (Petrozavodsk). In 2001, external surveillance was introduced, and on June 8, 2004, a new terminal was deployed, the cost of which amounted to about 19 million rubles. Most of the funds were included in the
investment program. In February 2009, 47 million rubles were allocated from the budget in order to acquire the airport in state ownership. In 2009, there were several upgrades, which significantly improved the condition of the complex. And in 2011, the head of Karelia Andrei Nelidov and the Minister of Defense of Russia Anatoly Serdyukov decided that part of the Besovets territory should be transferred to republican ownership. This was necessary so that Karelia received legal grounds for investing in updating the airport.
Description of the airport "Sands"
"Sands" is one of the airports in Petrozavodsk, designed for local air connections. It got its name from the nearby Sands microdistrict. Able to take aircraft AN-2, An-28 and similar to them.
A small historical background
The airport "Sands" (Petrozavodsk) was served before the start of World War II. In the 1940s, flights to some cities of the USSR were carried out from here: Leningrad, Shungu, Vyborg or Pudozh. In the 1950s and 60s, flights from An-12 and Yak-12 aircraft to various centers of Karelia were also undertaken from time to time. In addition to cruising on Karelian land, there were also flights to airfields in nearby regions. Since the mid-1990s, passenger communications existed on the lines to Pudozh and Kalevala. In addition to the above flights, the operator implemented cargo transportation, sanitary, aerial photography and other work using An-2 aircraft and Mi-1, Ka-26 and Mi-8 helicopters. The current operator of the airport is the State Unitary Enterprise RK North-West Air Base, which was established by order of the Ministry of Forestry of the RSFSR, the purpose of which was to detect and fight forest fires. The base has at its disposal An-2 aircraft, as well as Mi-8 helicopters. In 2009, the Federal Air Transport Agency granted the airbase permission to carry out various air commercial flights. Today, from November to May, flights are carried out on a Mi-8 helicopter to Kizhi, Pudozh, as well as Sennaya Guba. They are designed to move tourists who regularly visit these holy places.