Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kant Air Base lies in the Chuy valley of northern Kyrgyzstan, a few kilometres south of the town of Kant and around 20 km east of Bishkek. It is a Russian Aerospace Forces installation with a long pedigree as a Soviet pilot training school, and today it hosts combat aircraft, helicopters and unmanned systems rather than civil traffic, making it a niche but historically rich destination for the simulator pilot.
Kant is a Russian military air base situated just south of the town of Kant in Kyrgyzstan's Chuy Region, roughly 20 km east of the capital Bishkek. It traces its origins to a Soviet-era pilot training school and, since 2003, has been home to a Russian Aerospace Forces unit, the 999th Air Base. For a simulator pilot it is notable less as a routine VFR stop and more as a long-serving military airfield with a distinctive pair of long concrete runways set against the backdrop of the Chuy valley and the Tian Shan foothills.
The airfield sits at coordinates 42.8543 N, 74.8466 E in Chuy Region, close to the town of Kant and within easy reach of Bishkek to the west. Approach control in the area is provided by Bishkek Approach, with the field itself worked by its own tower frequency, reflecting its status as an active military installation rather than a civilian airport open to general aviation transit traffic.
Kant has two parallel hard-surfaced runways aligned 11/29. The main runway (11R/29L) is 8,774 feet long, while the second, closely parallel runway (11/29) measures 8,736 to 8,737 feet. Both are of hard construction, giving the base two substantial, similarly sized strips capable of handling large military types. There is no ILS at the field.
Bishkek Approach can be contacted on 124.6 MHz, and the tower frequency for Kant is 124 MHz. No published instrument landing system serves the airfield, and there are no other navaids noted for the field.
The airfield's history dates to 1941, when the Odessa Military Aviation School of Pilots was evacuated to the area following the German invasion of the Soviet Union; its cadets initially flew I-15 aircraft in defence of Odessa before the school relocated first to Stalingrad and then to the outskirts of Frunze, where it trained pilots for the front. During the Second World War 1,507 pilots passed through the school, seven of whom were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1947 it was renamed the Frunze Military Aviation School for Pilots of the USSR Air Force, and from 1956 it also trained foreign pilots, including future Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. A training aviation regiment was established around 1951-52 and later became the 5th Central Course for Preparation and Improvement of Aviation Personnel. Control passed to Kyrgyzstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992. Under a bilateral agreement signed on 22 September 2003, Russia opened a new air base at Kant, the first it had established abroad since 1991, with an official opening ceremony on 23 October 2003 attended by President Vladimir Putin and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev. In December 2012 Kyrgyzstan agreed to lease the base to Russia for fifteen years, with an option for a further five-year extension, in exchange for a reduction of Kyrgyz debt.
Kant now operates as a Russian Aerospace Forces installation, home to the 999th Air Base under the 5th Air and Air Defence Forces Army. As of 2023 the base was equipped with Su-25SM ground-attack aircraft, Mi-8MTV5-1 helicopters and Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicles, together with military police and military traffic police units. As an active foreign military base, it does not function as a civil aerodrome, and prior permission would be required for any approach or landing.