Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Provideniya Bay Airport (UHMD/PVS) is a remote gravel-and-sand strip in Chukotka in Russia's Far East, serving the small port town of Provideniya on the Bering Strait. Once a Cold War fighter base watched closely by US intelligence, it now handles only sporadic regional and charter traffic and remains closed to foreigners without special permission.
Provideniya Bay Airport lies in Chukotka, in Russia's far northeastern corner, and served historically as both a Soviet military airfield and the civilian gateway to the town of Provideniya. It is operated by Chukotavia and today sees only light, infrequent traffic, but its Cold War past and its role in early US-Soviet 'Friendship Flight' diplomacy make it a point of real historical interest to any pilot studying the region.
The airfield is situated in Chukotka, Chukotskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug, Russia, about 3 km southwest of the town of Provideniya. It sits at the northern end of Istikhed lake on the eastern side of Provideniya Bay. The airport and the surrounding towns are not accessible to foreign visitors without a special permit from the Russian government.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 02/20, surfaced in hard material (concrete/asphalt), with the 02 direction measuring 5,924 ft and the 20 direction 5,923 ft. Field elevation is 46 ft. There is no ILS.
Tower operates on 119.3 MHz.
Istikhed lake, immediately adjacent to the northern end of the runway, and the wider expanse of Provideniya Bay to the east are the principal visual landmarks for locating and approaching the field, with the town of Provideniya itself lying a short distance to the northeast.
The airfield's military pedigree dates to 1954, when an 8,200 ft hard-surface runway was built capable of supporting a fighter regiment and jet bomber deployments; its proximity to the United States made it of particular interest to US intelligence during the Cold War. By 1964 at least three S-75 Dvina (SA-2) surface-to-air missile sites had been identified around the airfield, and the 529th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO, flying MiG-17 and MiG-19 aircraft, was based there from 1960 to 1968, alongside three Mil Mi-4 helicopters. After the Cold War the airfield fell into disrepair and became inadequate for modern military operations, though there are anecdotal reports of Tupolev Tu-95MR deployment flights using the field during exercises. On the civilian side, the airport became famous for the 1988 Alaska Airlines 'Friendship Flight' and a similar Bering Air flight the same year, both landmark events in the thawing of US-Soviet relations. On 25 July 2005 a Swedish Air Force C-130 Hercules landed at Provideniya Bay carrying an international research team for the Beringia 2005 expedition organised by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.
The airport handles primarily small transport aircraft, with a concrete apron providing four parking spaces. Chukotavia operates infrequent scheduled service to the regional capital Anadyr, typically three to five times a month, and also runs Mi-8 helicopter services to nearby settlements such as Enmelen, Egvekinot and Lavrentiya. Bering Air operates chartered tourist flights several times a year using aircraft such as the Beechcraft 1900 and CASA C-212 Aviocar. Foreign visitors require a special permit from the Russian government to access the airport and surrounding towns.