Business turns one successfully implemented aviation project into a system
Every summer, Russians face the question: where to spend their vacation? According to statistics, in the last two years, domestic tourism has become especially popular among our fellow citizens. And not only to the traditional resorts of the south of Russia, but also to Siberia and the Far East. But how to get there? As one song goes, «You can only fly by plane.»
Photo: lookstudio-ru.freepik.com
When we say Sochi, we imagine a resort. And when we say resort, the first thing we think of is Sochi.
Indeed: Mecca, pearl and all the other epithets. Sea, palm trees, mountains… Where else is this possible, if not there?!
Last year, Sochi airport served about 14 million people. According to experts, this summer is just as «hot» in terms of passenger traffic.
Let's recall the recent history of this airport.
In 2007, Oleg Deripaska's company took on the reconstruction of the long-term construction project — the airport complex. And by the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the «long-term construction project» became the first infrastructure facility to be completed and put into operation. Its capacity was 7 million passengers per year, and a growth trend had already been established: note that passenger traffic in 2013 was at the level of 2 million people per year. But today, as we have already said, it receives and sends twice as many. Because the reconstruction work was carried out at a high level, using modern technologies. By the way, service improvement here is ongoing.
Today, Sochi Airport is the only one operating in the Krasnodar Territory. In 2022, the air harbors of Krasnodar, Anapa, Simferopol and Gelendzhik suspended aircraft servicing for flight safety purposes.
Photo: Alexander V. Solomin. Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12443427
But this does not mean that life at these airports has come to a standstill. On the basis of the Krasnodar airport, Aerodinamika (the management company of the airports of Sochi, Krasnodar and Anapa) is building the largest air terminal complex in the Southern Federal District with a modern terminal with an area of 83 thousand square meters. meters.
The fact is that the Krasnodar airport (it recently turned 92 years old) has long been in need of reconstruction. In 2021, it barely served 5 million passengers in two typical Soviet terminals.
That is why a thorough reconstruction was needed. So that everything would be state-of-the-art in technology and design. The region is actually building the largest transfer hub, including an airport, a railway station and a bus station. These facilities will simplify access for tourists and vacationers to all the popular resorts of the Black Sea coast.
The complex is being prepared for delivery in 2026, but the three floors that have already been built hint at the features of the project that will connect the Krasnodar region with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
This is exactly the kind of development that Deripaska's team, who managed the asset, laid out in 2010: the construction of a multimodal transport hub at the Krasnodar airport.
Work continues at the Anapa airport as well — many consider it the most comfortable among Russian air harbors and call the city «the main family resort».
When Aerodinamika came here, it became clear that the modest airport needed additional capacity.
And they didn't keep us waiting long. Before closing in 2022, the airport managed to receive about 3 million passengers — thanks to the modern terminal built in 2017. It not only raised Anapa's status on the «aviation map», but also became a favorite among passengers.
However, even now they are not going to stop there, they are creating the preconditions for growth of indicators. In order to improve accessibility of Anapa, Russian Railways is implementing one of the largest projects on the North Caucasian Railway – building a branch connecting the airport with the railway stations of Anapa, Krasnodar and Taman.
Photo: Alexander V. Solomin. Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12443025
The old Soviet-era terminal has been reconstructed, and an air border checkpoint has already been opened there.
Thus, a timely decision and serious investment in airport infrastructure give a new impetus to the development of the Russian south.
However, the famous resorts of the South of Russia are not the only tourist routes of our fellow citizens. According to the analytical report of the ASI for 2024, Russians want to spend their vacation in Siberia and the Far East. In particular, interest in the Siberian regions has grown from 9 to 19%.
It is clear that one of the most important air transport hubs in the air traffic of Siberia is the Krasnoyarsk International Airport named after D.A. Hvorostovsky. This is, without any exaggeration, a strategic transport hub in the air traffic between the western and eastern parts of Russia.
In 2015, Oleg Deripaska initiated a number of complex projects in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, including the creation of a promising development area based on the local airport.
As in the situation with Sochi, the implementation of the plan was facilitated by a major sporting event. In 2019, Krasnoyarsk hosted the Universiade. And already in 2017, a new passenger terminal with a capacity of 5 million passengers per year was built here.
Photo: TreasureWounds. Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72026611
In the first half of 2024, the airport transported almost 2 million people — 18% more than in the same period of 2023. In 2021, the Krasnoyarsk airport became the second airport after Sheremetyevo for Aeroflot Group airlines!
Needless to say, this development has provided residents of the region with additional opportunities for domestic travel and expansion of business ties? It has also contributed to the rapid growth of the airport's passenger traffic — by the end of 2023, it amounted to a record 3,774,450 people, of which 3,167,260 people were on domestic routes.
Or take another tourist mecca — the Sheregesh ski resort and the Mezhdurechensk tourist cluster. The only gateway to these places is Novokuznetsk International Airport. It came under the management of the Siberian Airports holding (RUSAL Group) several years ago. And it demonstrates high dynamics of passenger traffic growth by the end of 2023 in the Siberian Federal District. 534,368 passengers, almost 30% more than in the previous year. Including due to the constant expansion of the route network, the development of not only domestic destinations (Kazan, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg), but also international flights — Thailand, Egypt. In November 2022, the airport opened the only remote baggage terminal in Russia. Passengers check in their baggage at the departure airport and receive it directly at the resort: Novokuznetsk airport employees transport suitcases and equipment to the mountain. A small thing, but nice. As experts note, the tourist flow to Sheregesh increases by 10-20% every year. A new airport passenger terminal is planned for delivery to service tourists by the opening of the ski season in 2024. It will double the airport's capacity, from 270 to 540 passengers per hour. The modern, spacious building will be equipped with three telescopic ramps, a «dry passenger» canopy, high-comfort lounges and a VIP sector. The cost of building the terminal complex, including equipment, is about 9 billion rubles.
If in 2023, 17% of Russians planned trips to the Far East, then in 2024 this figure increased to 29%. According to the numbers, everything is going smoothly. But, as they say, getting there is as easy as pie!
As you know, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov in 1890 traveled to Sakhalin Island on the steamship Petersburg for 52 days! He, of course, spared no time on his journey and returned with new creative ideas. But today we won’t have enough vacation if we go to distant lands by train, by sea or by train. Time is money!..
However, here, too, a service is created for travelers, air harbors hospitably open their gates to them.
The Krasinvest company, which built a new passenger terminal in Krasnoyarsk in 2017, last year commissioned the largest airport terminal in the Far East in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Its area is 47,000 square meters, it can serve 1,600 passengers per hour. In its first year of operation alone, the new terminal received more than 1.3 million passengers, demonstrating a monthly growth rate of 10–12%.
Photo: press service of JSC Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport. https://primamediamts.servicecdn.ru/f/big/3687/3686895.jpg?c77e5b38a2126e78884c72064a981901, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=134724327
This summer, the air harbor for the first time began servicing up to four daily flights to Moscow. And opened new directions – to Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg.
Those who have already visited the island say that Sakhalin, although a distant region, “at the edge of the world,” has one important advantage. Namely, easy access to its attractions.
For example, the famous ski resort “Gorny Vozdukh” is only a 10-minute drive from the center of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The nearest coast is 40 minutes away, and the picturesque Aniva lighthouse, where crowds of tourists and vacationers go, is a 4-hour drive.
The tourism industry is rightfully considered the driver of development of Russian regions. And here, air travel is the main “locomotive.” According to ICAO research, for every ruble invested in aviation, 2.8 rubles are created in related areas.
And the experience of Oleg Deripaska’s team shows that Russia is not afraid of any economic sanctions if it approaches the matter creatively and responsibly. After all, the story of the reconstruction of a single Sochi airport can be called accidental. But the reconstruction of the air harbors of the entire industry, you must agree, is already a system.