Manas International Airport

Manas International Airport
Манас эл аралык аэропорту

FRU
IATA: FRUICAO: UCFM
Summary
Airport type Joint (Civil and Military)
Serves Bishkek
Location Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 2,090 ft / 637 m
Coordinates 43°03′40.7″N 74°28′39.2″E / 43.061306°N 74.477556°E / 43.061306; 74.477556
Website www.airport.kg
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08/26 13,792 4,204 Concrete
Source: AIP Kyrgyzstan[1]

Manas International Airport (Kyrgyz: Манас эл аралык аэропорту) (IATA: FRU, ICAO: UCFM)(formerly UAFM) is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan located 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-northwest of the capital Bishkek.

The airport is operational 24 hours and its ILS system meets ICAO CAT II standards, which enables aircraft operations in low ceiling (30 meters (98 ft)) and visibility (350 meters (1,150 ft)).

It is also the site of the Transit Center at Manas, formerly known as Manas Air Base, a US Air Force base supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

In 2012, the airport handled 1,056,000 passengers.

History

front of airport
Arrival area

The airport was constructed as a replacement for the old Bishkek airport that was located to the south of the city, and named after the Kyrgyz epic hero, Manas, at the suggestion of country's most prominent writer and intellectual, Chinghiz Aitmatov. The first plane landed at Manas in October 1974, with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin on board. Aeroflot operated the airport's first scheduled flight to Moscow-Domodedovo on 4 May 1975.

When Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the airport began a slow but steady decline as its infrastructure remained neglected for almost ten years and a sizable aircraft boneyard developed; approximately 60 derelict aircraft from the Soviet era, ranging in size from helicopters to full-sized airliners, were left in mothballs on the airport ramp at the Eastern end of the field.

With the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States and its coalition partners immediately sought permission from the Kyrgyz government to use the airport as a military base for operations in Afghanistan. Coalition forces arrived in late December 2001 and immediately the airport saw unprecedented expansion of operations and facilities. The derelict aircraft were rolled into a pasture next to the ramp to make room for coalition aircraft, and large, semi-permanent hangars were constructed to house coalition fighter aircraft. Additionally, a Marsden Matting parking apron was built along the Eastern half of the runway, along with a large cargo depot and several aircraft maintenance facilities. A tent city sprang up across the street from the passenger terminal, housing over 2,000 troops. The American forces christened the site "Ganci Air Base", after New York Fire Department chief Peter J. Ganci, Jr., who was killed in the 11 September terrorist attacks. It was later given the official name of Manas Air Base.

In 2004, a new parking ramp was added in front of the passenger terminal to make room for larger refueling and transport aircraft such as the KC-135 and C-17.

Around the same time the Kyrgyz government performed a major expansion and renovation of the passenger terminal, funded in part by the sizable landing fees paid by coalition forces. Several restaurants, gift shops, and barber shops sprang-up in the terminal catering to the deployed troops.

The airport terminal underwent renovation and redesign in 2007.[2] The contemporary IATA codename FRU originates from the Soviet name of the city of Bishkek called then Frunze.

Other facilities

During its existence Kyrgyzstan Airlines had its head office on the airport property. On 2 January 2002 the airline moved its head office to the Kyrgyzstan Airlines Sales Agency building of Manas International Airport.[3] Previously the head office was also on the grounds of the airport.[4]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow-Sheremetyevo
Aeroflot
operated by Rossiya
St Petersburg
Air Astana Almaty, Astana[5]
Air Kyrgyzstan Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Osh, Tashkent,[6] Ürümqi
Air Manas Chelyabinsk, Delhi,[7] Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk,[8] Osh, Perm,[9] Yekaterinburg[8]
AtlasGlobal Istanbul-Atatürk[10]
Avia Traffic Company Dushanbe, Grozny,[11] Isfana, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk-Yemelyanovo, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Osh, St Petersburg, Surgut, Yekaterinburg
China Southern Airines Ürümqi
flydubai Dubai-International
Iran Air Tours Mashhad
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
S7 Airlines Novosibirsk
Sky Bishkek Batken, Osh[12]
Somon Air Dushanbe
Tajik Air Dushanbe, Khujand
TezJet Batken, Osh
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk, Ulaanbaatar
Ural Airlines Moscow-Domodedovo, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
MNG Airlines Almaty
RUS Aviation Sharjah
Silk Way Airlines Baku, Ürümqi
Turkish Airlines Cargo Almaty, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Guangzhou, Islamabad, Istanbul-Atatürk, Shanghai-Pudong[13]
Uzbekistan Airways Navoi

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

  1. AIP Kyrgyzstan
  2. Manas airport in Bishkek is completely modernised (in Russian)
  3. "Kyrgyzstan airlines head office changes its address." Kyrgyzstan Airlines. 3 October 2002. Retrieved on 28 December 2011. "Now it's located in the building of the former Frunze Airport or Kyrgystan Airlines Sales Agency. Its new address is – Mir prospect 95."
  4. "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 4–10 April 2000. 114.
  5. "Эйр Астана. Новый рейс из Астаны в Бишкек". International Travel plus. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  6. "Открыты новые направления от авиакомпании "Кыргызстан": Бишкек–Дубай, Бишкек–Ташкент". Kabar National News Agency. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  7. "Pegasus Asia launches flights to Delhi". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 L, J (17 March 2015). "Pegasus Asia Expands Russian Routes from April 2015". Airline Route. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  9. "Full flight list of Pegasus Asia".
  10. "AtlasGlobal to Begin Bishkek Service from mid-June 2015". airlineroute.net. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  11. "Новый рейс Бишкек-Грозный". Авиакомпания Avia Traffic. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  12. 2014 Timetable, http://www.skybishkek.kg/
  13. Turkish Airlines Cargo Winter Schedule
  14. "Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 10232002". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  15. Flight International, 3–9 October 2006
  16. . The crash is the worst ever aviation accident in Kyrgyzstan.68 die, 22 survive airliner crash in Kyrgyzstan
  17. "All passengers survive after plane flips over in crash-landing". Yahoo News UK. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2015.

External links

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