Airport
Simferopol International Airport (Ukrainian: Міжнародний аеропорт "Сімферополь"; Russian: Международный аэропорт "Симферополь" Crimean Tatar: Aqmescit Halqara Ava Limanı) (IATA: SIP, ICAO: URFF) is an airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. It was built in 1936. The airport has one international terminal and one domestic terminal.
History
On 21 January 1936, the Council of People's Commissars of the Crimean Autonomous Republic decided to allocate land and begin construction of the Simferopol Airport. Simferopol to Moscow flights began in May 1936. Before the Second World War, regular air travel was established between Simferopol and Kiev, Kharkiv, and other airports.
In 1957, a terminal was commissioned. Lighting equipment was installed on a dirt runway and IL-12, IL-14, and Mi-4 aircraft began landing at the airport. In 1960, a concrete runway with an apron and parking areas was constructed. The airport began to operate around the clock and in adverse weather conditions, using new aircraft such as Antonov An-10 and IL-18. In the 1950s and 1960s, the AN-2 carried cargo and passenger flights to regional centers of the Crimea, and the Mi-4 flew to Yalta. In the summer of 1960, a squadron of Tu-104 was organized for the first time in Ukraine.
Starting in 1964, the An-24 was based at the airport. Construction of the second runway, designed for IL-86, IL-76, IL-62, and Tu-154 aircraft, began in 1977. On 19 May 1982, Simferopol airport was the first in the Ukraine to have a wide-IL-86. In subsequent years, this type of aircraft made an average of 5.6 daily flights to Moscow.
In the summer of 1989, the airport was designated as a "western alternate airport" for landing the Buran spacecraft.
In the early 2000s, the old runway 01R/19L (length 2700 m, PCN 22/R/B/X/T, accommodating a maximum weight of aircraft of 98 tonnes) was taken out of service because of its lack of length and strength. Since then, it has been used as a taxi D path with a length of 2100 m (the remaining 600 meters are unsuitable for taxiing). The second runway (01/19) is now in operation and is longer, wider, and stronger, accommodating heavy aircraft.
Following the 2014 Russian invasion of Ukraine the airport was seized on 28 February 2014 by Russian forces. Crimean airspace was closed and air traffic disrupted for two days.[1][2]
On 11 March, Russian forces took over the control tower and closed the Crimean airspace until the end of week. Ukraine International Flight PS65 had to return to Kiev shortly before landing.[3][4]
The International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO didn`t recognize the airport`s take-over by Russian military forces. That`s why the ICAO deputies had expressed severe concern about international flights safety in the region. So the ICAO did the strong appeal to avoid the Crimean unstable airspace. By the same token on 3 March 2014 the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation had confirmed, that majority of transitional air-routes have been closed, according to the articles of Chicago Convention. Besides, Eurocontrol did not recognized one-side ruling of the Ukranian air space, which is holding on by another country`s forces.
Russia is not a member of Eurocontrol organisation. At present time the airport is under Russian control and operates Russian flights mostly. Ukranian and European aircompanies suspended all the operations just after the annexation of Crimean peninsula.[5]
On June 2014 Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a Government resolution №960[6] to open the airport for serving international flight.[7]
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