Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Sochi International Airport (URSS/AER) serves the Black Sea resort city of Sochi from a site in the Adler District of Krasnodar Krai, southern Russia. Originally built as a wartime airfield in 1941, it has grown into one of Russia's busiest airports and served as the principal air gateway for the 2014 Winter Olympics. For a visiting VFR or IFR pilot it offers two long, hard-surfaced runways with ILS approaches on both.
Sochi International Airport lies on the Black Sea coast in the Adler District of the city of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is operated by Sochi International Airport, JSC as part of a joint venture involving the Basic Element group, Sberbank and Changi Airports International, and is among the ten largest airports in Russia by traffic. The field is of interest to a simulator pilot for its dramatic coastal and mountain setting, its long dual-ILS runways, and its history as the main gateway for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The airport sits on the Black Sea coast in the Adler District, part of Greater Sochi, in Krasnodar Krai. It is a public and military aerodrome with full ATC services, including approach, delivery, ground and multiple tower frequencies, reflecting its status as a busy international and domestic hub.
Sochi has two physical runways, both hard-surfaced and lit. Runway 06/24 is 9,492 feet long and equipped with ILS on runway 06. Runway 02/20 is 8,200 feet long and equipped with ILS on runway 02. Field elevation is 66 feet.
Radio services at Sochi include Approach on 118.8 MHz, an Apron/ATIS frequency on 129.375 MHz (also used for area VOLMET broadcasts, referenced as PMSV), Delivery on 132.7 MHz, and Ground on 119 MHz. A helicopter frequency is available on 118.5 MHz. Tower services are split across several frequencies: 118.3 MHz and 119.7 MHz (the latter associated with the KRUG position), with dedicated tower frequencies of 121.2 MHz for runway 06/24 and 135.8 MHz for runway 02/20. Both runway ends 06 and 02 are served by ILS approaches.
The airfield's origins lie in wartime necessity: it was built between 8 July and 1 September 1941 to help protect the Black Sea coast, on the site of a former state seed farm known as "Chernomorets". It was formally established as an airport on 23 November 1945. The first passenger terminal and an initial runway were completed in 1956, with the airport opening to scheduled traffic in 1957; around 35,000 passengers and 1,000 tons of cargo passed through in that first year. Between 1960 and 1965 the airport gained passenger and baggage halls, a 200-room hotel, and radio navigation and landing systems as traffic grew rapidly, and in August 1966 it was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for its performance. Passenger numbers rose from 902,000 in 1965 to more than 2.3 million by 1990. Scheduled international services began in 1981, initially to Bratislava, Budapest and Prague, later expanding to the Middle East and Western Europe. The airport was removed from Russia's list of strategic enterprises in 2006 and privatised the same year, being acquired by a company affiliated with the Basic Element group for 5.5 billion rubles. Basic Element subsequently formed Basel Aero to operate Sochi alongside three other regional airports. Extensive renovation between 2007 and 2013, costing over 14 billion rubles, prepared the airport to serve as the principal gateway for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, during which it handled more than 350,000 passengers and over 2,800 tons of luggage in February 2014 alone.
Sochi International Airport remains one of Russia's busiest airports, ranking among the country's top ten by passenger volume and now the fifth busiest in Russia and the post-Soviet states. It is managed by a joint venture bringing together the Basic Element group, Sberbank and Changi Airports International, the operator of Singapore's airport. The airport continues to handle substantial domestic and international traffic, including a hub role established by Aeroflot using Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft to connect Sochi with short-haul international destinations.