Irkutsk Airport is an airport in the centre of Irkutsk

Irkutsk

Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. As of 2006, a new passenger terminal is nearing completion. In the meantime a 1960s ex-international terminal is being used for both international and domestic departures while domestic arrivals are handled in a small shed-like structure by the side.

Due to its proximity to the Angara Reservoir, the airport enjoys a particular microclimate

Microclimate

A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...

 with foggy weather being prevalent for most of the year. The airport is often closed due to bad weather conditions, with Bratsk Airport

Bratsk Airport

Bratsk Airport is an airport in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia located north of Bratsk. It is a mixed use airfield, providing 32 parking spaces for medium-sized airliners, as well as a large number of branched fighter revetments....

 serving as a diversion airport

Diversion airport

Diversion airports are suitable airports capable of handling a particular ETOPS rated aircraft during an emergency landing and whose flying distance at the point of emergency shall not exceed the ETOPS diversion period of that particular aircraft....

. In emergencies, like the one in Summer 2006, when the only runway was closed after the S7 crash (see below), incoming planes can also be diverted to the runway of the nearby Irkut aviation plant, where Sukhoi

Sukhoi

Sukhoi Company is a major Russian aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, famous for its fighters...

 fighters and the Beriev Be-200

Beriev Be-200

The Beriev Be-200 Altair is a multipurpose amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut. Marketed as being designed for fire fighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo, and passenger transportation, it has a capacity of 12 tonnes of water, or up...

 are produced.

As of November 2006, plans are afoot to relocate the airport to Klyuchëvka

Klyuchëvka

Klyuchëvka is a village in the Talas Province of Kyrgyzstan....

, some 24 km from the city of Angarsk

Angarsk

Angarsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Angara River, from Moscow. It serves as the administrative center of Angarsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population:...

. Construction is slated to begin in 2008.

1,020,000 passengers traveled through Irkutsk International Airport in 2007.

Airlines and destinations

Transport connection

In Irkutsk a metro station is under construction, which also go to Angarsk and Shelehovo. This line will open in 2013 or 2014.

Incidents and accidents

Aside from foggy weather, the airport is notorious for its sloping runway and having many hills in its vicinity. The airport and its surrounding area have played scene to several crashes.

• S7 Airlines Flight 778
  S7 Airlines Flight 778
  S7 Airlines Flight 778 was an Airbus A310-300 passenger flight en route from Moscow to Irkutsk when it crashed upon landing at Irkutsk International Airport at 07:44 local time on 9 July 2006 . The plane overshot the runway, sliding over several hundred metres of wet runway and grass...
  
  , occurring at roughly 08:00 hours on Saturday 8 July 2006, killed in excess of 100 people.

External links

Irkutsk Airport