Is there an airport in Sukhumi? Is there an operating airport in Abkhazia? Resort places of Abkhazia

In the middle of the last century, Abkhazia was considered great place for a vacation that contained everything that the soul of a Soviet person could desire. Indeed, here you could plunge into the gentle sea waters, climb the mountains and see lakes, famous throughout the world for their changing beauty, as well as touch the centuries-old history of this country, which is riddled with numerous ruins of palaces and fortresses.

After the collapse of the USSR, all this splendor did not arouse interest among travelers, and only recently tourism in Abkhazia began to develop at a rapid pace.

Resort places of Abkhazia

The Republic of Abkhazia cannot yet boast of first-class service comparable to tourism industry Europe and Asia, but you can relax here in comfort. Richer travelers choose expensive hotels and boarding houses, and budget tourists stay in the private sector for very ridiculous prices.

You can have a wonderful holiday in Abkhazia in almost every corner of the country. Everywhere vacationers will find historical monuments and wide beaches. Most often our compatriots head to Pitsunda, Gagra, New Athos and, of course, to the capital of the former Soviet republic - the city of Sukhum.

Abkhazia: Sukhum airport

Anyone who prefers ground transportation air service, dreams of flying to Abkhazia. But tourists have little choice - only one airport is suitable for international flights.

It has a very convenient location - just eighteen kilometers from the city center. The closest locality- Babushary village. By the way, this is the name that Sukhum Airport had until 2010. Its runway can accommodate any civilian aircraft, but in this moment passenger traffic does not rise above zero. In the last century, up to five thousand passengers were accepted daily, but at the moment, even half of the previous figure would be a miracle for the residents of Abkhazia.

After reconstruction, the runway is almost four kilometers long. This is significantly more than in Sochi. In addition, its quality meets all international standards. Russian builders have made it as convenient as possible and suitable for simultaneous landing and take-off of several aircraft.

The entire history of the country using the example of one airport

Babushara airport was built in the second half of the last century. During this period, the number of tourists wishing to get to Abkhazia overwhelmed the airports of Sochi and other nearby resorts. Therefore, the construction of the complex was determined by economic benefits and practical necessity.

The military conflict between Abkhazia and Georgia in 1993 stopped the flow of tourists to this country and significantly damaged the airport building itself. The military used civilian ships to transport refugees and weapons to the warring republic. The signing of the peace treaty did not bring tourists back to Abkhazia, so Sukhum airport was used only for domestic flights and connections with the CIS countries.

In the 2010s, the airport was named in honor of the first President of Abkhazia V.G. Ardzinba, a year later, together with Russian companies The republican authorities began a large-scale reconstruction of the entire airport territory. The cost of the project is several billion dollars. By mutual agreement with the Russian side, most of the costs are borne by our country. Abkhazia must provide airport services and establish air links with major world powers.

Abkhazia: Sukhum airport today

Dreams of establishing air links with Abkhazia still remain unrealistic. Unfortunately, the international community does not want to take the republic’s side in the dispute for independence, but it never received international status, and all civilian flights are banned. The duration of the dispute between the republics has already exceeded ten years. At the moment, there is no progress in resolving the conflict.

Many Russian tourists dream of visiting Abkhazia and seeing with their own eyes all the beauties of this wonderful region. But, unfortunately, transplants and long road turn Russians away from this journey. With its opening, Sukhum Airport could significantly ease the journey to Abkhazia and still open it to tourists from all over the world.

Abkhazia is famous for its natural resources and low prices. For many years now it has had the status of a budget health resort, hospitably welcoming vacationers of middle and low incomes. Another important advantage is that you do not need a visa to enter the country.

Holidays here are much cheaper than on the Crimean Peninsula or in Sochi, and the conditions are in no way inferior famous resorts. Here you can enjoy the picturesque landscapes of mountains, lakes, rivers and the sea. History buffs will find a lot for themselves interesting monuments antiquity and will be able to admire the most beautiful architectural structures. The spiritual heritage of the republic is represented by numerous monasteries.

Almost everyone who wants to visit this beautiful region has a question: “What is the best transport to get there? Which airport in Abkhazia accepts tourists?”

Operating airports in Abkhazia

Unfortunately, today there is no way to get to Abkhazia by direct flight. For several reasons airways republics cannot accept passenger flights tourist destination. However, there are still airports on the territory of Abkhazia that will soon have such functions.

Babushara

This is an airport in Abkhazia that accepts exclusively government flights. The airport is at the stage of international certification and is not yet intended to receive passenger flights. on his runway planes of Russian peacekeepers, UN aviation and helicopters landing domestic flights. It's strategic important airport Abkhazia, but it is used in extreme cases. The distance from it to the capital is only 18 km. The 3.64 km long runway accommodates almost all types of civil aircraft whose weight does not exceed 125 tons. Its location on the coastal territory of the Colchis Lowland allows it to receive aircraft from several directions. This makes the airport in Abkhazia more profitable than the airport in Sochi.

Passengers are received in the old building, which was opened back in the 1960s. In the 80s, a new air terminal began to exist. In the mid-80s, it was decided to lengthen the runway, and now they can land on it civil aircraft Airbus class. The first flight was made by the Il-86 airbus on the route Moscow - Sukhumi - Moscow. After a successful landing, the number of flights was increased to 3-4 per day.

IN Soviet time the airport in Sukhumi was used as a reserve site by cities such as Baku, Sochi, Simferopol, Krasnodar, Rostov, Yerevan and Mineral water.

Terminal capacity at peak summer time- about ten thousand passengers.

The largest airport in Abkhazia received its name from the village of Babushara of the same name, near which it is located. Perhaps, after receiving international certification, the airport will be able to accept tourist flights.

Bamboura

You can quickly get a taxi that will take you to the border area. After passing customs control and paperwork already on the territory of Abkhazia, you can use the services of private drivers or minibus taxis and get to required resort, for example to Sukhumi, Gagra or Pitsunda.

The country's leadership is still working to improve the international transport interchange. Perhaps tourists will soon have the opportunity to travel to Abkhazia by air.

Tourists who dream of visiting this wonderful region are often interested in what operating airports in Abkhazia are there and how to get from them to their destination? To prepare a trip, many vacationers study the route and draw up a travel plan before departure. — amazing world, these are excellent resorts, beaches, sun, beautiful nature, many historical attractions.

You cannot fly to Abkhazia on a direct flight. There are many reasons why this region is not able to receive aircraft. However, there are airports on the territory of the region, and in the near future they will again have a status that will allow them to receive civil aircraft with tourists on board.

One of the airports in Abkhazia is Babushara. It is owned by the state and is the closest airport that can only handle civil flights. Now he is undergoing certification and given time not in use, it is intended only for the transport of passengers. The airfield's take-off strip is designed only for aircraft of Russian peacekeepers, helicopters and UN aviation. This airport in Abkhazia is a strategic facility and is used only in rare cases.

The distance from the capital of Abkhazia is 18 km.

The runway for aircraft takeoffs and landings is 3.64 km long. It is capable of receiving civil aircraft, their weight should not exceed 125 tons. Due to its favorable location near the coast of the Colchis Lowland, the airport of Abkhazia is able to receive aircraft from different directions. With its favorable location, it is more convenient than Sochi airport.

The building itself was opened in 1960, and by 2020 it is operational. In the 80s, it was decided to make the take-off strip much longer, so it began to be used for landing aircraft such as the Airbus. The plane that took off from the airport for the first time was an Il-86, it followed the Moscow-Sukhumi-Moscow course. As soon as the plane made a successful landing, the number of flights was increased to 3 per day.

The airport is located in Sukhumi. In Soviet times, it was a reserve airfield for cities such as Mineralnye Vody, Krasnodar, Sochi, Rostov, Yerevan, Sochi, and Baku; in the summer season it was capable of carrying 10,000 passengers.

The name Babushara comes from a nearby village. As soon as the airport receives international certification, it will be able to receive aircraft different airlines, which are carriers of tourists.

The military airport in Abkhazia is called Bamboura, it is located in Gudauta, the distance to the capital of the state is only 40 km. In Transcaucasia it is considered one of the largest.

The length of the runway for aircraft take-offs and landings is 3 km, it can accommodate military and combat aircraft. The strip is located near the Black Sea coast and is located so that there is approximately 70 m from the border of the sea to the shore area. Thus, aircraft can be hidden from radar, and after they have taken off, they have the opportunity to fly to low altitude above the sea.

Even with bad weather conditions Bamboura is capable of servicing maritime and civil aviation aircraft.

In the USSR, it was a base for assault and military equipment of the Air Force, and received transport ships and fighters. In the first half of 2009, Russia began to deploy its own air force groups on it.

Both airports currently do not accept passengers, and to travel to Abkhazia, tourists use others that are currently in operation. One of them is Adler Airport, located in Sochi. Sochi Airport is modern and multifunctional, it can accommodate a large number of passengers wishing to get to Abkhazia. It provides services to resorts: Adler, Abkhazia and others. It is located in the southeast of Sochi and is located at a distance of 30 km.

        • Babushara Airport

Babushara Airport (Sukhumi International Airport named after V.G. Ardzinba) is located in the Gulripsh region of Abkhazia.

  • Bamboura Airport

Bamboura Airport is a joint military airfield and is located in the Gudauta region of Abkhazia.

Sochi Airport Tourists can easily use the airport to travel to the resort in Gagry (Abkhazia). The current airport of Abkhazia, located in Sochi, was opened in 1945, and it was named Adler. At that time it was not very large, and the plane was capable of accepting flights only during the daytime. They decided to improve the airport in 1981; its area was significantly increased. Airplanes began to fly, which did not exist before the reconstruction. The very first flights of international aircraft were the following countries: Poland, Bratislava and a little later Prague. Afterwards, aircraft from the airfield began flying to the Middle East and the western part of Europe.

In 2009, a new modern air terminal was built. The infrastructure fully allows passengers waiting for boarding to spend the time before their flight in comfortable conditions. The airport received its status in the 21st century, and it acquired a name - international Airport Sochi. He can take different types airplanes.

Adler Airport, Sochi, present time.

In Russia, the airport in Sochi ranks 8th among major airports in count passenger transportation. In 2014, the reconstruction of the terminals was completed, which was necessary for the Olympics in Sochi. For passengers departing from Sochi Airport, it provides services such as restaurants and cafes, duty-free shops, parking, there are also currency exchange offices, and a mother and child room. You can see the airport terminals from the inside in the following video:

In the very first year of work, the first serious test came - a fire on board the aircraft and the need to land it with one engine. For the impeccable performance of her duties in an emergency situation, Nadezhda Kurchenko was awarded a personalized watch. Nadezhda had many plans - entering law school, marrying her school friend Vladimir Borisenko. In May 1970, Nadezhda went on vacation to visit her relatives. We agreed that the wedding would take place in November or new year holidays. And on October 15, the girl went on her last flight.

Immediately after the hijacking, terse TASS reports appeared in the USSR: “On October 15, a civilian plane air fleet“An-24” made a regular flight from the city of Batumi to Sukhumi. Two armed bandits, using weapons against the plane's crew, forced the plane to change its route and land in Turkey in the city of Trabzon. During the fight with the bandits, the flight attendant of the plane was killed, who tried to block the bandits’ path to the pilot’s cabin. Two pilots were injured. The plane's passengers are unharmed. The Soviet government appealed to the Turkish authorities with a request to extradite the criminal killers to bring them to Soviet court, as well as to return the plane and Soviet citizens who were on board the An-24 plane.

At an altitude of 800 meters, two passengers - father and son Brazinskas - called the flight attendant and passed a note to the pilots demanding to change the route and fly to Turkey. The girl rushed into the cabin and shouted: “Attack!” The criminals rushed after her, opening fire. “Don’t let anyone get up!” shouted the youngest of the hijackers. “Otherwise we’ll blow up the plane!” Soon the captured plane crossed the Soviet-Turkish border, and after another half hour it found itself over the airfield in Trabzon. Passengers and crew members were asked to remain in Turkey, but no one agreed to this. The next day, on a specially sent plane, all the people and the body of the deceased girl were taken to the USSR. A little later, the Turks returned the hijacked An-24. After returning from Turkey, the plane underwent repairs at the Kiev ARZ 410 and again flew in the Sukhumi air squad with a photograph of Nadya Kurchenko in the cabin. In 1979, the aircraft was transferred to Samarkand where it was operated until its service life was completely exhausted and in 1997 it was written off for scrap.

The name of Nadezhda spread throughout the world in one day. And for many years it became a symbol of Komsomol heroism. In many schools in the USSR, Komsomol and Pioneer detachments are named after hope. Nadezhda Kurchenko was buried in the center of Sukhumi in the uniform of a flight attendant and with a Komsomol badge. In Sukhumi, a park was named in her honor and a memorial was erected. 20 years later, her grave was moved to the city cemetery in Glazov at the request of her mother.

After the death of the flight attendant, the safety rules for passengers during air travel were radically changed, rules for the inspection of passengers and baggage were introduced, and the laws against air terrorism were tightened not only in the USSR, but throughout the world. There are metal detectors at airports and pre-flight inspection, cross-border flights began to be accompanied by armed guards “in plainclothes”, weapons began to be issued to the crew, and a special article 211 appeared in the Criminal Code - “Aircraft hijacking”. The USSR also learned a lesson from the West's reaction to terrorist attack Brazinskasov. The country's leadership, and especially the KGB, which was in charge of this case, finally believed in the cavernous anti-communism and anti-Sovietism of the Western elites. In the fight against dissidents within the USSR, the KGB increasingly began to be guided by the idea that “dissenters” were just pawns in the hands of foreign intelligence services.

In 1982, Gennady Bocharov wrote a large detailed essay about Nadezhda in the publication Young Guard http://apsnyteka.org/1319-bocharov_g_nadezhda_kurchenko.html

Abkhazia is one of the famous and favorite resorts among Russian travelers. Traditionally, people with low and medium budgets go there, and this country has the status of a health resort with inexpensive and reasonable prices. Its characteristic advantages are the absence of language barriers, no visas are required, and an absolutely inexpensive price for a vacation.

It should be noted that in terms of pricing, a holiday in Abkhazia will cost much more profitably than in Crimea or, but the level is comparable to competitors.

  1. Lovers of hiking through the mountains, swimming, gentle sun And warm sea, Lake Ritsa, a feature of which is the change in color of the water depending on the time of year.
  2. For admirers of antiquity, traditions, culture and architecture, this country can also be useful and interesting - a trip to Sukhumi.
  3. The main attraction is the New Athos Monastery ( monastery). Believers from many parts of the CIS come here.

Travel to Abkhazia - Gagra. The beauty of nature, the gentle sea, the sun - the culture and traditions of the Abkhazians - everyone will like all this

However, all travelers are interested in how to best and quickly get to this amazing and beautiful country? Of course, by plane. But is there an airport in Abkhazia? And if there is, then where is the airport in Abkhazia and are flights allowed there?

Many, even after following Internet links, literally immediately fall in love with this amazing and picturesque country, everyone wants to try national cuisine different dishes, enjoy your vacation, admire the majestic mountain scenery.

The main resorts are Gagra, Pitsunda, Gudauta, New Athos and Sukhum - the capital of the country. But in what city the airport is in Abkhazia, we will figure it out further.

Sukhum is the capital of Abkhazia, I am glad to welcome tourists and guests of the country

Airfields of the southern country

Let's figure out which cities have airports in Abkhazia?

Today there are two operating airports:

  1. Bamboura. This combat airfield is located in the Gudauta region. He doesn't accept passenger ships and is used exclusively for military purposes - for training.
  2. Another airport in Abkhazia, whose name is Babushara. This airfield is located in Sukhumi. However, due to the fact that it has not passed the international certification of ICAO, the airport is prohibited from serving. The airfield is used only as a last resort: for domestic flights of helicopters, UN aviation and Russian peacekeepers.

It should be concluded that the existing airports in Abkhazia, the list of which is at least small, do not serve passenger airliners.

Airports in Abkhazia currently do not accept civil vessels

How to go on vacation

If civilian ships are prohibited from landing, then how can one get into the country and what is the closest airport to Abkhazia?

This can be done by land transport– by train or car. Many tourists who have to travel from afar, and final destination Abkhazia, their arrival airport is in Sochi, and from there they travel by land to Sukhumi or another resort location.

One of the closest airports to Abkhazia is Adler (Sochi)

So, how to get there and what routes are feasible:

  1. Using a taxi (from the airfield to the border checkpoint - 9 km).
  2. By train (they depart twice a day).
  3. Using water transport(from Sochi to Gagra).
  4. By bus or minibus (they depart from the bus station and the city center).

As you can see, everything is very simple and accessible. Adler Airport is one of the largest and most innovative. After completing all the arrival services, leaving the airport, you can immediately transfer to the bus and after half an hour or an hour you will be at your desired place.

Traveling from Adler to Abkhazia can be done by land transport

Actually, this is all the information about the airfields of Abkhazia, about what methods. According to information from reliable sources, the country's authorities are planning to reconstruct the airfield in the near future, therefore it is possible to obtain international status from civil aviation.

Results

And finally, who still doubts whether to go or not, I would like to say that Abkhazia is a very friendly and hospitable country, which has its own amazing, interesting ancient history, original culture, interesting traditions, intertwined with delightful nature.

Such a state cannot fail to bring every tourist a lot of bright and positive impressions. Locals are proud of their country, they love and honor their homeland, their nature, mountains, lakes, forests. It is here that the tourism industry is actively developing every year, as evidenced by the many comfortable hotels, boarding houses and sanatoriums with world-class service.

 

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