The airport, the city of Bugulma, is the main air transport hub of the southeast of the Republic of Tatarstan. It has been working for 83 years and is one of the three largest air hubs in the republic. It serves regular and seasonal flights, settlements of European Russia and Siberia.
Bugulma Airport: photos, history
The year of foundation of the Bugulma airport is considered to be 1933. It was this year that a decision was made to create an air line inside Tatarstan. For this purpose, the territory was prepared for the construction of the airfield complex. In August of this year, the first flight was completed.
The rapid development of the airport begins in the 1950s. In 1953, the acceptance of mail planes began, and the Bugulma aviation enterprise was established, and buildings were built for airport personnel. In 1955, passenger service began.
In the 1960s, infrastructure continued to evolve. In 1972, Yak-40 aircraft began to be accepted here. In the 1980-1990s, the old and the construction of a new runway were reconstructed. In 2010, a new passenger terminal was commissioned, and in 2011 the Bugulma Airport began servicing international flights.
Infrastructure
The airport has one passenger terminal. The "air gate" of the city of Bugulma has a developed modern infrastructure. The capacity of the new terminal building is about 50 passengers per hour. There is also a business lounge, various cafes, recreation areas for air passengers, a 24-hour room for mother and child, a medical unit, ATMs. There is Wi-Fi in every terminal building. On the territory of the airport complex there is a hotel and a 24-hour paid secure parking.
Runways
Today, Bugulma Airport has two runways. In this case, only one of them is operated - 01L / 19R - with an asphalt concrete coating. Its dimensions are 2000 × 42 m. Its initial length was 1.6 km, but in 2005 it was elongated and the width increased by 2 meters.
To the south-east of the current strip is the second, the dimensions of which are 2870 × 45 m. Construction began in 1987, but due to insufficient funding, this project was suspended. Initially, it was built to receive heavy aircraft with a take-off mass of more than 50 tons. In the 1990s, there were incidents when flight crews erroneously landed on an unfinished runway. After that, white crosses were applied to the strip, which indicate that the runway is not operating.
Accepted Aircraft
Bugulma Airport can accept aircraft with a take-off mass of less than 47 tons, namely:
- An-2.
- An-24.
- An-32.
- An-74.
- "Bombardier CRJ200."
- "Bombardier Challenger".
- All types of helicopters.
- L-410.
- Yak-40.
Airlines, destinations
Now the Bugulma air transport hub is servicing aircraft of the Tatarstan airline YuVT-Aero (which replaced Ak-Bars), which operates flights in the following directions:
- Ekaterinburg.
- Mineral water.
- Moscow (Domodedovo Airport).
- Nizhnevartovsk.
- New Urengoy.
- St. Petersburg.
- Simferopol.
- Sochi
- Surgut
Several years ago, Rusline, Yamal, UTair, and IrAero airlines were served here.
Recently, for the convenience of passengers, an electronic registration system has been introduced.
How to get there
Bugulma airport is located 7 km from the city of the same name. You can get to it either by taxi or by private car. The journey takes no more than 40 minutes. Public transport from other settlements is not provided.
Bugulma Airport: phone, address
You can call the help desk at +7 (85594) 5-70-14, and the airport directorate at +7 (85594) 5-70-00. You can also send a message by fax +7 (85594) 5-70-04.
Address: Bugulma Airport, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The postal code index is 423230.
Air accidents
In the entire history of the Bugulma airport, there have been two aircraft accidents.
The first occurred in March 1986, when the An-24 aircraft crashed near the airfield. The plane belonged to Bykovsky OJSC and followed from Moscow to Bugulma. The flight crew decided to approach with a right twist at a landing course of 192 degrees. Before entering the glide path almost immediately after flaps were released, the engine screw on the left side spontaneously switched to feathering mode. As a result, the aircraft tilted to the left and began to make a U-turn; as a result, stall occurred . The plane fell 8 km from the strip. 38 people (4 of them were crew members) died on the spot. The official version of the crash is called spontaneous feathering, engine shutdown on the left, as well as pilot error.
The second accident occurred in 1991, when the An-24 aircraft crashed 802 meters from the runway. The plane operated a flight from Nizhnevartovsk to Bugulma. Landing was carried out at night. The anti-icing system was not included by the crew, as a result of which the wings and stabilizer were covered with a 15 mm layer of ice. The crash occurred when leaving for the second round, when the airliner went into stall mode. 41 people (4 of them were crew members) died on the spot.
Thus, the Bugulma airport is one of the most important air transport hubs not only in Tatarstan, but also in the Volga region. Currently, it provides services to one airline operating flights mainly in Russia. It has a modern developed infrastructure. There have been two plane crashes in the history of the airport.