Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Almaty International Airport (UAAA/ALA) is the principal gateway to southeastern Kazakhstan and the busiest airport in the country, lying on the northeastern edge of the city of Almaty. It offers two long, parallel hard-surfaced runways equipped with ILS, making it a straightforward destination for both airliner and general aviation traffic in the simulator. As the main hub for Air Astana and several other Kazakh carriers, it presents a busy, modern operating environment against the backdrop of the Tian Shan foothills.
Almaty International Airport, known by its ICAO code UAAA and IATA code ALA, serves the city of Almaty in southeastern Kazakhstan. It is operated under the name JSC Almaty International Airport, itself owned by the Turkish airport company TAV Airports Holding, and functions as the principal hub for Air Astana along with FlyArystan, Qazaq Air and Sunday Airlines, and as a focus city for SCAT Airlines. For a simulator pilot it is an attractive destination thanks to its pair of very long parallel runways, full ILS coverage, and a setting within the city limits close to the dramatic rise of the Tian Shan mountains to the south.
The airport lies approximately 8.1 nautical miles (about 15 kilometres) northeast of central Almaty, within the city limits, on the northern edge of the settlement of Guldala and northeast of the Tbilisskaya and Kolhozshy districts. The surrounding terrain is a mix of open land and residential development typical of the Almaty basin.
Almaty International has two physical runways, both orientated 05/23 and both hard-surfaced and lit. The northern runway, 05L/23R, is 14,721 feet long on the 05L threshold and 14,720 feet on the 23R threshold, and is equipped with ILS on both directions. The southern runway, 05R/23L, measures 14,364 feet from the 05R threshold and 14,363 feet from the 23L threshold, and likewise carries ILS on both directions. Both runways are amongst the longest in Central Asia, capable of accepting the full range of civil aircraft types without weight or frequency restriction.
Almaty is a controlled aerodrome with a full suite of radio services. Approach control operates on 131.6 MHz, the ATIS broadcast is on 129.8 MHz, ground control on 121.7 MHz, and tower on 119.4 MHz, with a GCA (ground-controlled approach/radar) frequency of 120.8 MHz. Both runway pairs are served by ILS, supporting precision instrument approaches in the low-visibility conditions that can affect the region in winter.
The airfield's origins date back to 1935, when it was built for the use of small civil and military aircraft. It remained part of the Kazakh Department of Civil Aviation until 1990, was reorganised as Alma-Ata Airport in 1991, and became an independent business unit in 1993, later restructured as OJSC Almaty Airport in 1994 before adopting its present name. The original terminal building, completed in 1973 at 2 Mailina Street and designed by architects V. P. Ishchenko, O. N. Naumova, Y. G. Litvinenko and Y. I. Sharapov with engineers K. Nurmakova and Z. Sukhanova, was recognised as a historical monument in 1979. The airport has a notable place in Soviet aviation history: the supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 began mail and freight flights between Moscow and Alma-Ata from 26 December 1975, moving on to passenger services in November 1977, with the aircraft's last scheduled passenger flight, operated by Aeroflot, taking place on 1 June 1978. A runway reconstruction in 1998 earned the airport a CAT II certificate and international airport status. A serious fire broke out in a restaurant kitchen on 9-10 July 1999 and burned for over seven hours, badly damaging the terminal's restaurant, waiting room and duty-free areas; the building was eventually delisted as a historical monument in 2010. A new terminal was completed in 2004, and on 30 September 2008 a second runway opened, its first departure being a BMI flight to London Heathrow; this new runway received CAT III certification, cutting the diversions caused by winter low visibility. A further international terminal, designed by Aeroports de Paris Ingenierie around a form inspired by traditional yurts, began construction in 2007 as part of a wider Airport City development, but was halted in 2010 after Air Astana and a German consulting firm raised concerns that separating domestic and international terminals across the airfield would require aircraft and passengers to cross active runways.
Almaty International Airport is today the busiest airport in both Kazakhstan and Central Asia, having handled around 7.2 million passengers in 2022 and over 11.4 million in 2024. It is the principal hub for Air Astana and also serves as a base for FlyArystan, Qazaq Air and Sunday Airlines, with SCAT Airlines using it as a focus city. The field also handles substantial cargo traffic, having moved some 88,400 tonnes in 2022, making it the country's largest airport by cargo volume.