Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Ufa International Airport (UWUU/UFA) is the principal civil gateway to Bashkortostan, sitting just outside the city of Ufa in the Volga Federal District of Russia. It is a major hub airport with a long paved main runway equipped with an ILS, handling a substantial mix of domestic and international scheduled traffic, and its history stretches back to the earliest days of Soviet civil aviation.
Ufa International Airport serves the city of Ufa, the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and is operated as a large civil international airport under the name JSC "International Airport Ufa". For a simulator pilot it offers a substantial paved runway system with instrument approach capability, a busy mix of domestic and international jet traffic, and a history dating back almost a century, making it an interesting destination for both airliner and general aviation flying in the Russian Federation.
The airport lies close to the city of Ufa in the Republic of Bashkortostan, within Russian controlled airspace. Traffic is worked by an approach radar service and tower, consistent with its status as a large international airport handling scheduled airline operations.
Ufa has two parallel hard-surfaced runways. The primary runway, 14R/32L, is 12,326 feet long with a hard surface, runway lighting and an ILS. Alongside it, runway 14L/32R is 8,249 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, though without a published ILS. In addition there are three shorter grass runways: 14/32 at 2,169 feet, 05/23 at 2,138 feet, and 01/19 at 1,856 feet, none of which are lit.
Radio services at Ufa include ATIS on 124.8 MHz, Ground on 119 MHz, a miscellaneous frequency on 131.7 MHz, an approach/transit radar service on 120.9 MHz, and Tower, callsign "Krug", also on 120.9 MHz, with a separate start-up frequency. The main runway, 14R/32L, is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches in poor weather.
As a controlled aerodrome with radar and tower services, Ufa operates under standard air traffic control procedures typical of a major Russian international airport, with inbound and outbound traffic sequenced by the approach radar and handed to tower for final approach and landing.
The airfield's origins go back to 11 May 1924, when the first aircraft hangar was completed near Glumilino village, followed shortly afterwards by the opening of an aviation club within the Bashkirian branch of AFFVS. In 1933 the airport became the start point of a route of over 730 kilometres linking Ufa with Sterlitamak, Meleuz, Mrakovo, Baymak, Magnitogorsk and Beloretsk. From 1956 the airport carried out technical maintenance of Yakovlev Yak-12 aircraft and Mil Mi-1 helicopters then serving Bashkirian air routes. Between 1959 and 1962 the airport underwent major reconstruction, during which a new runway capable of receiving Tupolev Tu-124, Antonov An-10 and Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft was built, along with new radio approach equipment and radar facilities, three hotel buildings, cargo and fuel storage, a dining hall and a garage. A new passenger terminal able to handle 400 passengers per hour opened in 1964. In 1986 the airport was the scene of an attempted hijacking of a Tu-134. The terminal was reconstructed again in 2007, more than doubling the terminal area and adding four telescopic ramps, four elevators and three escalators, raising capacity to 600 passengers per hour. Former carrier BAL Bashkirian Airlines was once headquartered at the airport.
Ufa remains a busy international airport with scheduled services from a wide range of Russian and foreign carriers, supported by an ILS-equipped main runway and full radar and tower air traffic control. General aviation and visiting pilots should expect to operate within a controlled, radar-monitored environment typical of a large commercial airport, and prior permission should be sought before any visiting flight.