Airport in Sokuluk District, Kyrgyzstan
Manas International Airport
(
Kyrgyz
:
Манас эл аралык аэропорту
,
romanized
:
Manas 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
[
edit
]
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.
[2]
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
[
edit
]
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.
[3]
Previously the head office was also on the grounds of the airport.
[4]
Airlines and destinations
[
edit
]
Passenger
[
edit
]
Airlines
| Destinations
|
---|
Aeroflot
| Moscow?Sheremetyevo
|
Aero Nomad Airlines
[5]
| Delhi
,
Islamabad
,
Lahore
,
Moscow?Vnukovo
,
Osh
Seasonal:
Antalya
Seasonal charter:
Goa?Dabolim
,
Jeddah
,
Medina
|
Air Arabia
| Sharjah
[6]
|
Air Astana
| Almaty
|
AJet
| Ankara
[7]
|
Avia Traffic Company
| Dushanbe
,
Grozny
,
Irkutsk
,
Istanbul
,
[8]
Jalal-Abad
,
Kazan
,
Krasnoyarsk?Yemelyanovo
,
Moscow?Domodedovo
,
Moscow?Zhukovsky
,
Novosibirsk
,
Osh
,
Saint Petersburg
,
Surgut
,
Yekaterinburg
|
Azerbaijan Airlines
| Baku
[9]
|
China Southern Airlines
| Beijing?Daxing
,
[10]
Urumqi
[11]
|
FlyArystan
| Turkistan
Seasonal:
Astana
(resumes 2 June 2024)
[12]
|
flydubai
| Dubai?International
|
Flynas
| Jeddah
[13]
|
Jazeera Airways
| Kuwait City
[14]
|
Loong Air
| Chengdu?Tianfu
,
[15]
Xi'an
[16]
|
Nordwind Airlines
| Kazan
|
Pegasus Airlines
| Antalya
,
Istanbul?Sabiha Gokcen
|
Qazaq Air
| Almaty
[17]
|
Red Sea Airlines
| Seasonal charter:
Sharm El Sheikh
|
Rossiya Airlines
| Krasnoyarsk
|
S7 Airlines
| Irkutsk
,
Novosibirsk
|
Sunday Airlines
| Seasonal charter:
Phuket
[18]
|
TezJet Airlines
| Batken
,
Isfana
,
Jalal-Abad
,
Osh
|
Turkish Airlines
| Istanbul
[19]
|
T'way Air
| Seoul?Incheon
[20]
|
Ural Airlines
| Moscow?Domodedovo
,
Moscow?Zhukovsky
,
Saint Petersburg
,
Sochi
(begins 25 May 2024),
[21]
Yekaterinburg
|
Uzbekistan Airways
| Tashkent
|
Wizz Air
| Abu Dhabi
[22]
|
Cargo
[
edit
]
Statistics
[
edit
]
Annual traffic
[
edit
]
Annual Passenger Traffic
[27]
Year
|
Passengers
|
% Change
|
2012
|
1,056,000
|
|
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
|
16.3%
|
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
- 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.
[28]
- 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.
[29]
- 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.
[30]
- 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.
[31]
- 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.
[32]
[33]
[34]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Manas International Airport
at Wikimedia Commons
43°03′40.7″N
74°28′39.2″E
/
43.061306°N 74.477556°E
/
43.061306; 74.477556
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