Minsk National Airport

Minsk National Airport Нацыянальны аэрапорт Мінск Национальный аэропорт Минск
IATA: MSQ ICAO: UMMS
Summary
Airport type	Public
Serves	Minsk, Belarus
Location	Kastrychnitski
Hub for	Belavia
Elevation AMSL	204 m / 669 ft
Coordinates	53°52′57″N 28°01′57″E / 53.88250°N 28.03250°E / 53.88250; 28.03250Coordinates: 53°52′57″N 28°01′57″E / 53.88250°N 28.03250°E / 53.88250; 28.03250
Website	airport.by
Map
MSQ Location of airport in Belarus
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13/31 3,641 11,942 Concrete
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 3,429,112[1] Passenger change 15–16 23.2%
Sources: ACI's 2014 World Airport Traffic Report.

Minsk National Airport (IATA: MSQ, ICAO: UMMS), (Belarusian: Нацыянальны аэрапорт Мінск, [natsɨjaˈnalʲnɨ aeraˈport mʲinsk]; Russian: Национальный аэропорт Минск), formerly named Minsk-2 - not to be confused with the now defunct Minsk-1 Airport near downtown Minsk -, is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km (26 mi) to the east of the capital Minsk, geographically lying in the territory of Smalyavichy Raion, but administratively being subordinated to Kastrychnitski District of Minsk. The airport serves as hub of the national Belarusian airline Belavia and the cargo carriers TransAVIAexport Airlines and Genex.

History

Early years

Construction of Minsk-2 airport began in 1977. In 1979 a new runway 3,640-m-long and 60-m-wide was operational. By 1981 the aerodrome "Minsk-2" was able to handle aircraft and the airport opened in 1982. The first passenger flight was operated with a Tupolev Tu-134. Eleven years later the airport was complete and the terminal with an annual capacity of 5.8 million passengers opened.

Development since the 1990s

Regular flights began in 1983; by 1990 passenger traffic reached 2.2 million passengers. From 1991 the number of flights began to decline due to collapse of the Soviet Union and other consequent changes. By 1997 the number of the passengers was 516,000, in 1998 – 480,000, in 2000 – only 400,000 passengers. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the first million passengers was handled by Minsk National Airport in 2008. Due to the substantial growth in passenger traffic 2008 became a significant mark for the airport.^[2]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Minsk:^[3]

Cargo

Statistics

Traffic by calendar year. Official ACI Statistics^[7]

	Passengers	Change from previous year	Aircraft operations	Change from previous year	Cargo (metric tons)	Change from previous year
2005	559,114	10.86%	5,456	2.83%	5,488	4.29%
2006	637,560	14.03%	6,144	12.61%	6,059	10.40%
2007	830,481	30.26%	7,590	23.54%	7,290	20.32%
2008	1,010,695	21.70%	9,256	21.95%	7,870	7.96%
2009	1,028,886	1.80%	9,341	0.92%	7,289	7.38%
2010	1,285,423	24.93%	11,020	17.97%	8,553	17.34%
2011	1,437,825	11.86%	13,686	24.19%	8,667	1.33%
2012	1,837,911	27.83%	14,947	9.27%	9,833	13.45%
2013	2,182,177	18.73%	16,586	11.00%	10,477	6.55%
2014	2,593,559	18.90%	20,036	20.90%	19,905	89.99%
2015	2,782,866	7.30%	20,365	1.64%	N.D.	N.D.
2016	3,429,112	23.2%	N.D.	N.D.	N.D.	N.D.
Source: Airports Council International. World Airport Traffic Reports (Years 2005,[8] 2006,[9] 2007,[10] 2009,[11] 2011,[12] 2012,[13] 2013,[14] and 2014[15])

Ground transportation

Location within the limits of Kastrychnitski District (pink) of Minsk

Minsk international airport is linked to the capital by the M2 motorway. Bus, train, taxi and parking services are provided.^[16]

The airport is served by bus 300Э departing from Centralny bus station. From November 2014 the airport can also be reached by train departing from Minsk Passazhirsky or Smolevichi railway stations, where one can make connections from other Belarus cities and towns.^[17]

The airport is located 42 km (26 mi) east of Minsk, and is linked with the city with a toll-free (for non-BY registered cars) highway. Free short term parking is available in front of the terminal.

Incidents and accidents

• On 1 February 1985 an aircraft Tu-134AK operated by Aeroflot with registration number SSSR-65910 en route to Leningrad Pulkovo airport crashed into the forest shortly after takeoff killing 55 out of 73 passengers and 3 out of 7 crew members on board.^[18]
• On 6 September 2003 an aircraft Tu-154 operated by an Iranian airline Kish Air hit trees in heavy fog as it was on approach en route from Tehran to Copenhagen. None of the 38 passengers and 4 crew members on board were injured.^[19]
• On 26 October 2009, S-Air Flight 9607, operated by BAe 125 RA-02807 crashed on approach to Minsk National Airport. All three crew and both passengers died.^[20]

See also

• List of the busiest airports in the former USSR

References

External links

Media related to Minsk National Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Airport information for UMMS at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
• Airport information for UMMS at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
• Current weather for UMMS at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for MSQ at Aviation Safety Network