Zhukovsky Airport to serve first flight in June

Ramenskoye Airport terminal is ready to serve passengers (Photo by Russian Aviation Insider)

By Valentin Makov

The new airport located in Zhukovsky (ZIA), a town just outside of Moscow and home to the biennial Moscow air show (MAKS), will serve its first passenger flight in mid-June, governor of Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov announced on May 30. The airport is expected to serve up to 20 flights weekly.

It is not yet known which carrier will be the first to land at Zhukovsky. This week, the airport signed partnership agreements with two carriers –  Kazakh SCAT and Kyrgyz Air Kyrgyzstan; and two Russian cargo carriers – Aviastar-Tu and Sky Gates Airlines. The later is a new entity, founded in April 2016.

The module terminal’s annual capacity is 2 million passengers. However, Dmitry Shugayev, deputy director of Rostec Corporation and member of the new airport’s board, said that due to a limited number of partner airlines and flights, the airport’s estimated traffic will reach 150,000 passengers in 2016. The airport won’t limit itself to this number, and is already negotiating attractive terms with other carriers, Shugaev said. He declined to name the potential customers.

At the May 30 opening ceremony, the airport also signed an agreement for the construction of a cargo terminal jointly with Master International General Trading next year. According to Shugayev, the terminal will have the floor area of 14,000 square meters.

Located to the south-west of the Russian capital, Ramenskoye Airfield at Zhukovsky is intending to become Moscow’s fourth passenger airport. It is managed by Ramort Aero, which is owned by Rostec Corporation and Lithuanian aviation holding Avia Solutions Group. The airport’s 5,500 m-long runway is operated by Gromov Flight Research Institute, so the airport will continue to serve as a center for experimental, state and commercial aviation.

The area of the terminal built by Ramport Aero is 17,600 square meters. The airport authorities confirmed that they have received an aviation security certificate and have obtained the status of international gateway in March this year.