Ekaterinburg Koltsovo International Airport
Ekaterinburg Koltsovo International Airport is Russia’s largest regional airport. Over 30 Russian and foreign airlines connect Ekaterinburg with more than 80 cities of the world and, thanks to convenient transfers at international hubs, with practically any place in the world.
In 2003, the decision was taken to launch a private-public partnership (PPP) project aimed at large-scale reconstruction of Koltsovo Airport supported by the Russian Government, the Russian Ministry of Transport, the Government of the Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Renova Group. The total investment in Koltsovo amounted to approximately 12 billion rubles, with 8 billion of private input (development of terminals and technical retrofitting of facilities) and 4 billion of public money (reconstruction of airfield pavements and construction of a new tower).
New facilities have been put in service: the Catering (10 000 rations a day), the International Terminal (15 400 sq. m, 600 PAX/hour), the reconstructed Business Terminal, a new Domestic Terminal (19 600 sq. m, 1000 PAX/hour), a new Koltsovo Airport railway station, another International Terminal (45 000 sq. m, 1600 PAX/hour). We have completed the first phase of the reconstruction of airfield pavements, commissioned the navigation facility (the Tower) and the Hotel and Business Centre, Angelo Airport Hotel Ekaterinburg (17 000 sq. m, 211 rooms, a conference centre of 1344 sq. m, 12 conference halls, an ambulatory leading into the terminal).
During his visit at the time of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which took place in Ekaterinburg in June 2009, President Dmitriy Medvedev of Russia went over the upgraded air terminal and noted that Koltsovo can be the “benchmarking model for the development of Russia’s airports”. With the new terminals in place, the total area of the Air Terminal Complex amounted to more than 80 thousand sq. metres and the capacity doubled to 8 million passengers per year. The terminals include comfortable waiting areas, transfer and transit passenger lounges, enhanced comfort lounges, restaurants, cafйs, shops, a pharmacy and a post office. The equipment used there is manufactured by both Russian and major foreign (UK, US, French, German) companies.
President Medvedev gave the due to the Koltsovo reconstruction project implemented during a short period of time, and emphasized that public-private partnership is “the right way indeed” to develop the transport industry of Russia.
Koltsovo Airport is determined to continue on the path of development. Its plans include the reconstruction of the parking stands and the second runway, the building of the cargo village, multi-level car park, etc.
To become more than a regional point-to-point airport, to function as a full-fledged hub with a well-developed transfer and transit traffic map — that is Koltsovo Airport’s priority task within the aviation strategy. The airport has everything needed for that: on the one hand, the favorable geographic position and a high business activity of Ural and Siberia; on the other, a well-developed airport infrastructure with ample capacities and a wide existing network of flights. Therefore, the priorities of Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport in 2010–11 are: further development of the route network, buildup of an effective transfer capacity, especially through development of regional carriers and creation of good connections to long-haul flights, acquisition of new foreign carriers, expansion of bus connections with cities of Ural, establishment of a full-fledged bus terminal at Koltsovo, vitalization of cargo traffic and introduction of a multimodal transportation system.
The successful modernization of the airport complex, the hairline implementation of the aviation strategy, the phased development of the ground transportation infrastructure are factors that enable Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport to make a ponderable contribution to the further improvement of Russian air transportation and approach the goal of becoming a hub.
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