Karaganda (airport): history, current status

Sary-Arka Airport (Karaganda) is one of the largest in size in Kazakhstan. Next, his history and current status are examined.

Location

This facility is located in the eastern part, approximately in the center of Kazakhstan. Nearby is the city of Karaganda. The airport is 22 km away. On the one hand, this location is advantageous because access to large cities is convenient from the center of the country. 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. past century, including Karaganda. The airport in the city appeared in 1934. Initially, flights were carried out on U-2 aircraft.

• The first settlement with which regular communication was opened in 1937 was the city of Alma-Ata. Flights were operated by PS-9 aircraft.
• In 1944, the airport was moved to the "New City".
• After 10 years, the construction of office facilities began.
• In 1959, a runway was built, a one-story airport building. He 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 minutes.
• The next year, the network of flights provided by the Karaganda airport was expanded: the flight schedule was supplemented by transit routes from Tashkent to Omsk, from Alma-Ata to Adler and Kiev.
• In 1963, a flight was launched from Alma-Ata to Leningrad. The fleet was replenished with An-24 aircraft, which they began to use mainly on Kazakhstan airlines. In addition, a hotel was opened for transit passengers.
• 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 was launched from Alma-Ata to Riga.
• Since 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 air traffic of Karaganda was established exceeded 50.
• In 1980, a new airport was built - Karaganda (Central), and its operation began.
• By the mid-80s. the fleet was completely moved here.

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

In 1992, the 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, the next 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 strip length was changed, the 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 systems, fire fighting and safety systems. Its area is 3456 m ² , throughput - 30 thousand tons / year. Moreover, it operates 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 flights and the VIP room were modernized. The building was equipped with ventilation and air heating systems. Expanded service. The system for delivering passengers to airplanes was changed: buses were replaced by telescopic ramps.

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

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

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 a year. and 18 thousand tons of cargo. In addition to civil aviation, the airplanes 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-largest passenger airport in Kazakhstan, Astana, which is only 200 km from it. Naturally, the capital is more popular than Karaganda. After modernization, Astana Airport significantly reduced passenger traffic in Karaganda. And now he is in the process of another restoration aimed at increasing passenger traffic. As a result of this, the capacities of the Karaganda airport are involved only 10%.

Legal status

In 1996, an open-type joint-stock company “Sary-Arka Airport” 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 changed again to AO, 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 stake.