Starting a conversation about the airport of Vitebsk in the modern sense, it is necessary to mention its history and origins.
Airport History
In Vitebsk, the airport was originally located in the southern suburbs. It was built to use the army air force. The first historical landing of the airplane took place back in 1914, in May. And for over a hundred years, an airport has been operating in Vitebsk.
During the Great Patriotic War, the airport of Vitebsk was a strategically important object. A fighter regiment of Soviet aviation was stationed there. After the war, in peacetime, the airport in Vitebsk became one of the first Soviet artificial airfields.
The main area of operation of the complex in the post-war period was sanitary tasks and mail flights. Already at the end of 1945 a regular air line was opened: the Minsk-Vitebsk flight. And in the middle of 1946 a new link appeared. Vitebsk airport began to carry out agricultural flights.
Since 1948, flights began to be operated. At first it was Minsk-Vitebsk-Minsk, then a few years later there was a direction to Moscow. Vitebsk Airport can be proud of its history and the people who worked there. At different times, the Heroes of the Soviet Union worked at the enterprise:
Many workers have been awarded government awards for their dedicated work. Soviet people worked with full dedication to revive their country.
Vitebsk "East": the beginning
In 1977, the commissioning of the Vitebsk East Airport object began. And a year later the first technical flight on the AN-24 was completed. After a couple of years, the Vitebsk airport turned into a large airfield with a lot of flying equipment:
- MI-2 helicopters - 35 units.
- Aircraft AN-2 - 32 units.
In the first period of its existence, Vitebsk Airport carried out only technical strategic flights for various activities:
- Processing of sledge and fields.
- Protection of forests.
- Maintenance of oil pipelines.
- Sanitary work.
- Mail delivery.
In 1982, the first joint Vitebsk aviation detachment was created, a mechanization base was built, and an aircraft repair hangar was put into operation. After putting into operation a radar and a beacon from Vitebsk Vostochny Airport, regular passenger flights began to be operated. The annual number of passengers per year began to be about 40 thousand people.
Flights from the Vitebsk Airport facility were operated in different directions: most often to Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Minsk, Leningrad, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Sverdlovsk.
In 1993, the first reconstruction of the airport was made, with the replacement of the lighting system and the installation of a second runway for receiving and taking off aircraft of the TU-154 and IL-76 type.
Since mid-1996, Vitebsk airport received international status and began to charter flights to other countries from the end of 1998: the Czech Republic, India, Finland, Turkey, and Poland. For this, the latest navigation equipment was installed.
At the present stage
Since 2000, the airport of Vitebsk became part of the large state concern BelAeroNavigation. This reorganization occurred by the merger method.
At present, Vitebsk Airport is a structural unit of this enterprise that performs important work on servicing passengers, cargo and strategic facilities. One of the important and ongoing tasks performed by the Vitebsk airport is to serve guests of the international festival "Slavic Bazaar". In addition, the company provides non-core services: storage and transportation of fuels and lubricants, customs storage of goods, renting vehicles, providing a venue for sporting and entertainment events.
The capacity of Vitebsk Airport is up to 150 people in one hour. On the territory of the airport there is everything necessary for comfortable waiting for a flight and receiving passengers. There is a VIP-hall in which the most convenient conditions for being at the airport are created. Subject to the use of business aviation, all actions for the registration of baggage and airline tickets, as well as the passage of border and customs control, occur separately from the total mass of passengers. The hall has a meeting room, Internet, fax, telephones, a conference room, a relaxation room.
For the convenience of passengers with small children, there is a free room for mother and child. For people with disabilities, there are special plumbing units and places for comfortable waiting.
Prospects
Vitebsk Vostochny International Airport is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation with various airlines and world airlines. Its convenient location - 15 kilometers from the city - makes the partnership of this enterprise with the aviation alliances of the world profitable and promising.
In the future, it is planned to expand the territory and commission additional terminals. Now Vitebsk airport can simultaneously receive and launch 6 aircraft into the air.