Stepanakert Airport Ստեփանակերտի Օդանավակայան |
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IATA: none – ICAO: none
Stepanakert
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Summary | |||
Airport type | Military and civilian | ||
Operator | Nagorno-Karabakh Republic | ||
Location | Khojaly (near Stepanakert), Nagorno-Karabagh | ||
Elevation AMSL | 2,001 ft / 610 m | ||
Runways | |||
Direction | Length | Surface | |
m | ft | ||
05/23 | 2,178 | 7,145 | Asphalt |
Source: DAFIF[1] |
Stepanakert Airport (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտի Օդանավակայան; called Khojaly Airport (Azerbaijani: Xocalı hava limanı by Azerbaijan) is an airport in Khojaly, near Stepanakert, the capital city of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), a de facto independent republic which territory is de-jure recognized as a part of Azerbaijan. The airport has been under the control of the NKR since the ceasefire agreement of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. In 2009, facilities reconstruction and repair work began.[2] Though originally scheduled to launch the first commercial flights on May 9, 2011, Karabakh officials have recently postponed and refused to assign a new reopening date.[3]
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The airport resides at an elevation of 2,001 feet (610 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 05/23 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,178 by 37 metres (7,146 × 121 ft).[1]
By the end of 1980 the airport served a regular passenger flights Yerevan - Stepanakert . With the Karabakh conflict and the constituted authorities of the Azerbaijan Soviet blockade of the Armenian SSR and NKAO airport was the only means of communication blockaded the region with the outside world. The airport has been under the control of the NKR since the ceasefire agreement of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994.
In 2009, work began on the construction of a new passenger terminal. Repair work is also being conducted on the main runway.[2] According to Karabakh’s Urban Development Minister Karen Shahramanian, work on the terminal building will be completed in November 2010, however this has now been delayed until April 2011.[4] Air navigation equipment is also being installed there.[2] The newly renovated airport will be capable of receiving 200 passengers every hour.[5]
It is expected that Karabakh will have a regular flight services only to Yerevan, Armenia, and a state owned carrier, Artsakh Air was created on January 26, 2011 and intends to purchase 3 Bombardier CRJ200 jets.[4] Officials have said only that a one-way air ticket to the Armenian capital will cost 16,000 drams ($45 USD).[2]
On April 5, 2011 it was announced that the opening of the airport was postponed.[6] Dmitry Adbashyan, the head of NKR Civil Aviation Service announced that the airport launch will take place during the 2011 summer.[7][8] NKR officials also insisted that the postponement was not related to the dispute with Azerbaijan.[9][7]
Immediately after the NKR Civil Aviation Department's statement announcing the May 9, 2011 opening date of the newly-built airport in Stepanakert, Arif Mammadov, director of Azerbaijan’s Civil Aviation Administration warned that according to law on aviation, flights from Yerevan to Stepanakert are not authorized and may be shot down.[10][11]
The NKR response came from David Babayan, head of the central information department of the NKR president’s office, who said that NKR armed forces "will give an adequate response" if Azerbaijan attempts to shoot down an aircraft.[12] President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan condemned the threat to shoot down civilian aircraft dismissing it as "nonsense".[13][14] Sargsyan also said that he would be the first passenger on inaugural Yerevan-Stepanakert flight.[13]
The Azerbaijani presidential administration condemned Sargsyan's statement as possible provocation on the part of Armenia. A few days later, spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Elkhan Polukhov, declared that “Azerbaijan did not and will not use force against civil facilities.”[15]
The United States Assistant Secretary, Philip Gordon, as well as ambassadors to Azerbaijan and Armenia, Matthew Bryza and Marie Yovanovitch, characterized that threat as "unacceptable"; and advised that issues related to the security of the airport should be solved before its opening.[16][17][18][19][20]
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, expressed support for Azerbaijan. He said “that such provocative actions will not serve to promote the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict," and called Armenia to "to stop such provocative steps.”[21]
GUAM Secretary General Valeri Chechelashvil said that the airport was within the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and can not operate without Azerbaijan’s permission.[22]
On April 14, 2011, twenty-three members from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) endorsed a declaration condemning “the construction by Armenia of an airport in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.” The document stresses that the construction is contrary to the norms of international law. The declaration required Yerevan to stop the airport construction.[23]