Manas International Airport

Manas International Airport

Манас эл аралык аэропорту
Summary
Airport typeJoint (Civil and Military)
ServesBishkek
LocationSokuluk District, Kyrgyzstan
Hub for
Elevation AMSL637 m / 2,090 ft
Coordinates43°03′41″N 74°28′39″E / 43.06139°N 74.47750°E / 43.06139; 74.47750
Websitefru.port.kg
Map
UCFM is located in Kyrgyzstan
UCFM
UCFM
Location of Manas International Airport
UCFM is located in Asia
UCFM
UCFM
UCFM (Asia)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 4,204 13,792 Concrete
Statistics (2017)
passenger3,586,337
Source: AIP Kyrgyzstan

Manas International Airport (Kyrgyz: Манас эл аралык аэропорту, romanizedManas El Aralyk Aeroportu ; Russian: Международный аэропорт «Манас») (IATA: FRU, ICAO: UCFM) is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan, located 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-northwest of the capital, Bishkek.

History

The airport was constructed as a replacement for the former Bishkek airport that was located to the south of the city, and named after Kyrgyz epic hero, Manas, suggested by writer and intellectual Chinghiz Aitmatov. The first plane landed at Manas in October 1974, with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin on board. Aeroflot operated the first scheduled flight to Moscow–Domodedovo on 4 May 1975.[citation needed]

When Kyrgyzstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in December 1991, the airport began a steady decline as its infrastructure was 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] 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, renamed Transit Center at Manas in 2009, and closed and handed over to Kyrgyz authorities in 2014.[citation needed]

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. The contemporary IATA codename FRU originates from the Soviet name of the city of Bishkek, then called Frunze. In 2012, the airport handled 1,056,000 passengers.

Facilities

The airport operates 24 hours a day and its ILS system meets ICAO CAT II standards, enabling flight operations in low ceilings (30 meters or 100 feet) and visibilities (350 m or 1,150 ft).

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. Previously the head office was also on the grounds of the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Aero Nomad Airlines Delhi, Islamabad, Lahore, Moscow–Vnukovo, Osh
Seasonal: Antalya
Seasonal charter: Goa–Dabolim, Jeddah, Medina
Air Arabia Sharjah
Air Astana Almaty
AnadoluJet Ankara
Avia Traffic Company Dushanbe, Grozny, Irkutsk, Istanbul, Jalal-Abad, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk–Yemelyanovo, Moscow–Domodedovo, Moscow–Zhukovsky, Novosibirsk, Osh, Saint Petersburg, Surgut, Yekaterinburg
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
China Southern Airlines Beijing–Daxing, Ürümqi
FlyArystan Astana, Turkistan
flydubai Dubai–International
Flynas Jeddah
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City
Loong Air Chengdu–Tianfu, Xi'an
Nordwind Airlines Kazan
Pegasus Airlines Antalya, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qazaq Air Almaty
Red Sea Airlines Seasonal charter: Sharm El Sheikh
Rossiya Airlines Krasnoyarsk
S7 Airlines Irkutsk, Novosibirsk
Sunday Airlines Seasonal charter: Phuket
TezJet Airlines Batken, Isfana, Jalal-Abad, Osh
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
T'way Air Seoul–Incheon
Ural Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo, Moscow–Zhukovsky, Saint Petersburg, Sochi (begins 25 May 2024), Yekaterinburg
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
RUS Aviation Sharjah
Silk Way Airlines Baku, Ürümqi
Turkish Cargo Almaty, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Guangzhou, Islamabad, Istanbul, Shanghai–Pudong
Turkmenistan Airlines Cargo Turkmenabat
Uzbekistan Airways Cargo Navoiy
YTO Cargo Airlines Shijiazhuang

Statistics

Annual traffic

Annual Passenger Traffic
Year Passengers % Change
2012 1,056,000 Steady
2013 N/A N/A
2014 N/A N/A
2015 N/A N/A
2016 3,082,931 N/A
2017 3,586,337 Increase 16.3%

Accidents and incidents

  • On 23 October 2002, an IL-62 airliner operated by the Tretyakovo Air Transport Company crashed on takeoff after running off the end of the runway. There were no passengers aboard and all eleven crew members escaped, with only minor injuries. The pilot was pulled from the aircraft by responding U.S. Air Force Security Forces personnel of the 111th SFS from the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. The injured were treated at the joint US Air Force and South Korean army clinic at Manas Air Base. The wreckage was bulldozed by Kyrgyz personnel and left at the site. Airport operations resumed before the crash site had finished smoldering.
  • On 26 September 2006, a Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft taking off for Moscow–Domodedovo collided on the runway with a US Air Force KC-135 tanker that had just landed. The Tupolev, with 52 passengers and nine crew on board, lost part of its wing but was able to take off and return to make a safe landing with a 2.5 m section of its wing missing. The KC-135, with three crew members and a cargo of jet fuel, caught fire and was destroyed. There were no injuries on either aircraft.
  • On 24 August 2008, Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 (a Boeing 737 operated by Itek Air) heading to Tehran with 90 people aboard crashed 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the airport, killing 68. Twenty-two people, including two crew members, survived the crash. According to an airport official, the crew had reported a technical problem on board and were returning to the airport when the plane went down.
  • On 28 December 2011, a Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tu-134, which had taken off from Bishkek, crashed while attempting to land at Osh, causing 31 injuries.
  • On 16 January 2017, Turkish Airlines Flight 6491, a Boeing 747-400F operated by ACT Airlines under wet lease for Turkish Cargo, en route from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, missed the runway on landing in thick fog, crashing into a village. At least 38 people were killed, including all four crew members and 34 people on the ground.

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-09 20:03 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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