Aqtau International Airport
Aktau International Airport is located 21 km (13 mi) northwest of Aktau. The airport features one passenger terminal and one runway. It serves as a focus city for SCAT Airlines. The airport is served year-round by Aeroflot, Air Astana, SCAT Airlines, Qazaq Air and on a seasonal basis by Belavia and Sunday Airlines.
The airport opened in 1983 as Shevchenko-Central and was commonly known as Shevchenko Airport (the airport's current IATA code, SCO, is derived from the city's previous name, Shevchenko).
Overview
In November 1996 the joint stock company Aqtau International Airport was established. The development of the oil industry in the Caspian region required an increase in freight volumes and a rapid delivery of necessary equipment for the oil industry. This, in turn, led to the need for reconstruction of the airfield and an increase in passenger capacity at the terminal. With 1 million passengers passing through in 2018, the airport was the third busiest in Kazakhstan, after Almaty Airport and Astana Airport, and was the 50th-busiest airport in the Post-Soviet states.
Operations
Aktau International Airport is used by 6 airlines flying to 14 destinations in 4 countries. The airport is the primary hub of SCAT Airlines. It has one passenger terminal. In 2018, it served 1 023 900 passengers, making it the third-busiest airport in Kazakhstan. The busiest single destination in passenger numbers is Atyrau. It has one runway designated 11/29 with an asphalt/concrete surface measuring 3,050 m × 60 m (10,007 ft × 197 ft). The airport is able to accommodate jets the size of the AN-124, Boeing 747, Il-76 and lighter, as well as helicopters of all types. However, smaller jets like the Airbus A319, Boeing 737 and CRJ-200 are more commonly seen there.
In 2007, the airport was given a concession period of 30 years to the ATM Group. The contract includes construction of a new passenger terminal. The new terminal was completed in 2009. The capacity was 450 passengers per hour and the total area of 13,400 m (144,000 sq ft), including the area occupied by the VIP and CIP halls.
The terminal is equipped with electronic and electromechanical systems. These include passenger telescopic ladders, racks of electronic registration, HVAC (heating and cooling system), FIDS (Alert System departures on the electronic scoreboard), X-ray scanners, CCTV, lifts and escalators.
SCAT Airlines is based in Aqtau and operates flights to Baku, Tbilisi, Moscow and various other Russian cities. Air Astana operates daily flights to Atyrau, Almaty and Astana. There are also flights operated by Aeroflot to Moscow.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Aqtau:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aeroflot | Moscow–Sheremetyevo |
| Air Astana | Almaty, Astana |
| Azerbaijan Airlines | Baku |
| FlyArystan | Aktobe, Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Kutaisi, Oral, Shymkent Seasonal: Antalya, Sharm El Sheikh |
| Pars Air | Gorgan |
| Pegasus Airlines | Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen |
| SCAT Airlines | Aktobe, Almaty, Astana, Astrakhan, Atyrau, Kokshetau, Makhachkala, Shymkent, Tbilisi, Türkıstan, Yerevan Seasonal: Batumi, Sochi |
| Sunday Airlines | Seasonal charter: Antalya, Sharm El Sheikh |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul |
Statistics
Passenger figures
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
| Year | Passengers | Change on previous year |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 474,000 |  24.9 %
|
| 2009 | 450,000 |  5,1 %
|
| 2010 | 585,000 | 30%
|
| 2011 | 623,000 | 6,5 %
|
| 2012 | 708,143 | 13,7 %
|
| 2013 | 776,431 | 9,6 %
|
| 2014 | 813,746 | 4,8 %
|
| 2015 | 845,710 | 3,9 %
|
| 2016 | 865,774 | 2,4 %
|
| 2017 | 1,072,400 | 23,9 %
|
| 2018 | 1,023,900 | 4,5 %
|
| 2019 | 996,291 | 2,7 %
|
| 2020 | 688,002 | 30,9 %
|
| 2021 | 1,303,560 | 89,5 %
|
Accidents and incidents
- On December 25, 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, an Embraer 190 jet, crashed near the airport as it attempted an emergency landing, killing 38, with 29 initial survivors reported.
See also
- Transport in Kazakhstan
- List of airports in Kazakhstan
- List of the busiest airports in the former USSR
References
- ^ "AIP Kazakhstan". ans.kz. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019.
- ^ "Aqtau International Airport Flight Schedule". Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Buta Airways August – October 2023 Network – 30JUL23". AeroRoutes. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "FlyArystan Preliminary NW23 Qatar Operations". AeroRoutes. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ "FlyArystan doubles the number of flights from Aktau to Istanbul". dknews.kz. DKNews International News Agency. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (31 October 2024). "FlyArystan Expands Sharm el Sheikh Network in 4Q24". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- ^ "Flights between Gorgan and Aktau resume". 26 April 2024.
- ^ "Pegasus Airlines NS24 Network Additions – 23APR24". AeroRoutes. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ "SCAT Aircompany Resumes Aktau – Sochi From June 2024". AeroRoutes. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Turkish Airlines NS24 Intercontinental Network Changes – 31MAR24". AeroRoutes. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ^ "Количество обслуженных пассажиров в аэропортах Республики Казахстан за 2015–2016 гг.стр 39" (PDF). www.kase.kz.
- ^ "Отчет об исполнении тарифных смет и инвестиционных програм перед потребителями и иными заинтересованными лицами по итогам 1 полугодия 2022 года" (PDF). aktau-airport.kz.
- ^ "Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes near Kazakhstan's Aktau airport". Sky News.
