Another new airport will be built in Crimea
The Belbek Airport near Sevastopol, which is used jointly by the Ministry of Defense and where the military is completing restoration of the runway, will be able to handle civilian flights even without a new terminal. Sevastopol Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov told reporters this, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Even taking into account the absence of an air terminal complex, the airport will already be able to accept civil flights, because the refueling systems, receiving people, and navigation equipment are the same. Let's wait until the military puts the strip into operation officially. No one removed the status of a double airport from Belbek,” Ovsyannikov said.
After the reconstruction carried out at Belbek by the Ministry of Defense, the length of the runway increased by 500 meters - to 3,45 kilometers. Five taxiways, seven aircraft parking areas and special platforms were also built. At the end of last week, Su-30M2 fighter jets and a Tu-134A passenger plane landed on it.
“The runway has been built. The next stage will be the construction of a small airport terminal complex. Our function is reduced purely to participation in share capital,” Ovsyannikov said.
The government of Sevastopol recently bought shares in Simferopol International Airport JSC for 775 million rubles, of which the civil sector of Belbek will become a branch.
As part of the federal target program for the development of Crimea, 1,7 billion rubles are allocated for the development of the civilian sector of Belbek, but the airport complex will have to be built by an investor. The airport's capacity is not yet known.
Another new airport will be built in Crimea.