Vnukovo International Airport

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Vnukovo International Airport (Russian: Международный аэропорт Внуково) (IATA: VKO, ICAO: UUWW), is an international airport located 28 km (18 mi) southwest from the center of Moscow, Russia. It is one of three major airports serving Moscow (along with Domodedovo International Airport and Sheremetyevo International Airport). In 2007, the airport handled 6.78 million passengers, representing a 33% increase over 2006.^[3]

Vnukovo is the oldest of the operating airports in Moscow. The construction was approved by the Soviet government in 1937, since the older Khodynka Airport (located much closer to the city centre and closed by 1980s) was overloaded. Vnukovo was opened on July 1, 1941. During the Great Patriotic War it served as a military airbase, and then the passenger service started.

The airfield has two intersecting runways of 3000 m and 3060 m in length. Each runway is 60 meters wide with 10-meter wide safety shoulders on each side. The runway's joint capacity is 60 aircraft movements per hour. The airport has two passenger terminals (International terminal B and domestic terminal 2), one general aviation terminal (for charter business flights), one cargo terminal and 60 aircraft stands. The airport can handle a maximum number of 3,000 passengers per hour. 4,000 people are employed at the airport. The Tupolev rework facility is also located at Vnukovo.

A VIP hall was equipped at Vnukovo Airport, and it is used by many political leaders and important people visiting Russia. The Russian President also uses the VIP facility at Vnukovo Airport.

[edit] History

Vnukovo Airport was used for military operations during the Second World War. The airport became a civilian airport after the war. On September 15, 1956, the Tupolev Tu-104 jetliner carried out its first passenger flight from Moscow Vnukovo to Irkutsk via Omsk.

On November 4, 1957, the Romanian Workers' Party, comprising the most prominent politicians of Communist Romania (Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Chivu Stoica, Alexandru Moghioroş, Ştefan Voitec, Nicolae Ceauşescu, Leonte Răutu, and Grigore Preoteasa), was involved in an accident at Vnukovo Airport; Preoteasa, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, was killed, as was the aircraft's crew. Several others were seriously injured.

The first passenger flight of Ilyushin IL-18 (Moscow to Alma-Ata, on April 20, 1956) and Tupolev Tu-114 (Moscow to Khabarovsk on April 24, 1961) were also carried out from Vnukovo Airport. In 1980, Vnukovo Airport was expanded because of the 22nd Summer Olympic Games. In 1993, Vnukovo Airport became a joint-stock company.

[edit] Future expansion

A massive reconstruction and strategic development program commenced at Vnukovo International in late 2003, following the transfer by the Federal Government of the controlling stake in the airport to the Government of Moscow.

The prospective development program is intended to last until the year 2015 and is aimed at transforming Vnukovo International into a highly competitive air transportation hub of international significance. One that would offer a comprehensive range of quality services to both its passengers and tenant carriers.

As part of the Airport Strategic Development Plan the following projects have been completed at Vnukovo International between 2003 and 2005.

April 2004: New Terminal B was opened. The terminal currently handles international passengers whereas in the future it shall be converted to handle domestic flights or fulfill any other dedicated function to be determined at a later date. The Terminal’s total floor space offering stands at 80,000 square meters allowing for the annual passenger throughput capacity of four million.

August 2005: Vnukovo Express was opened: an inter-modal, direct speed line connecting Vnukovo Airport with Kiyevsky Rail Terminal downtown Moscow was launched. The travel takes 35 minutes.

A new international passenger Terminal A (due to be completed in 2008) will have a total floor space offer of 201,000 square meters and passenger throughput capacity of 7800 pax. per hour, adding up to 20-22 million passengers to be served by the Airport annually. This will open up a plethora of opportunities for the tenant airlines to expand and radically improve the quality of their customer service at the Airport and ensure the introduction of international-quality service and comfort overall. The sprawling terminal building will be located on the site of the existing domestic passenger terminal and will also serve as a springboard for the subsequent development of the entire adjacent landside area both next to the Terminal and farther out toward Vnukovo Settlement. The oldest of the Vnukovo passenger terminals dating back to 1941 will be dismantled by the time the construction of the new one goes ahead (it started to be dismantled in November 2005). The existing Domestic Terminal 2 built in the late 1970s will continue in operation until its eventual dismantling during the last phase of construction and replacement with the new terminal.

The expansion plans include lengthening one of the two V-shaped runways (3,000m and 3,060m long) to 3,800m and upgrading the instrument landing system from the present CAT II to CAT III. Of the three Moscow airports, Vnukovo is the highest, 204m above sea level, and hence in case of fog it has frequently served as an alternate airport. Apart from this, the operators like to stress the fact that, due to its geographic position, the flying time for Western airlines is 10 to 20 minutes shorter than to the other Moscow airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo, which means that each aircraft flying from Vnukovo will burn less fuel. The existing taxiways are to be extended as part of the expansion and new ones will also be built, along with a brand new control tower, an extension to the cargo terminal and a multi-storey car park.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Terminal 2

[edit] Terminal B

[edit] Cargo airlines

• Grizodubova Air Company (Abakan)

[edit] References

1. ^ Airport information for UUWW at World Aero Data. Source: DAFIF.
2. ^ Airport information for VKO at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF.
3. ^ ^{a b} Vnukovo Airport passenger statistics for 2007
4. ^ (Russian) Расписание рейсов. Vnukovo International Airport. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
5. ^ (Russian) Расписание рейсов. Vnukovo International Airport. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Vnukovo International Airport

• (English) Vnukovo International Airport official website
• (Russian) Vnukovo International Airport official website
• Hybrid map and satellite image
• Accident history for VKO at Aviation Safety Network
• Current weather for UUWW at NOAA/NWS
• Historical weather records for Vnukovo