Odesa International Airport () is an international airport of Odesa, the third largest city of Ukraine, located southwest from its city centre.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine closed airspace to civilian flights due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Facilities The area of Odesa International airport is 570 hectares. Technical service of airport is based on 2,800 square meters area and represented by four parking places to provide technical service to four planes simultaneously. European standards classify the airport as "class 1".Ukraine travel guide dompavlov.com – Odesa International Airport The airport has ILS CAT I status.
The airport's runways either were or are co-used by the Ukrainian Air Force.
History The airport was built in 1961.
In May 2007, the airport started construction work that included extending the main runway.
In 2009, it served 651,000 passengers.
On 8 June 2012, builders started to prepare the land on which the new terminal would be built. The area of the new terminal was to be 26,000 square meters, with the capacity for 1,000 passengers per hour (1.5–2 million passengers per year). It would have 16 check-in desks, and four telescopic gangways, and the number of bus pick-up points would be increased from two to five. The construction of the new terminal was planned to be completed by the end of 2013. However, due to extensive delays, it was opened for arrivals on 15 April 2017. It is to serve both international and domestic flights. The estimated cost of the work was around 45–60 million. Airport Consulting Vienna company has developed a master plan, business plan and evaluation of the technical concept of the airport. The chief designer of the project is the Spanish company Ineco.
In 2019, Odesa International Airport announced an international competition for the best idea of a sculpture-symbol of the city's air gates. The first place was taken by Ukrainian artist Stepan Ryabchenko. His sculpture "Sphere" will be made and installed near the new airport terminal.
During expansion work in 2021, workers found a mass grave containing 5,000-8,000 skeletons believed to be victims of the Holodomor.
2022 Russo-Ukrainian War On 30 April 2022 a Russian missile struck the newly constructed runway, destroying it. Ukrainian officials stated that a Bastion missile was used, and no one was hurt. The Russian military later confirmed the attack.
Airlines and destinations
As of 24 February 2022, all passenger flights have been suspended indefinitely.
Statistics
Year Passengers Change on previous year 2001 117,000 2002 132,000 12.8% 2003 260,000 97.0% 2004 307,000 18.1% 2005 343,000 11.7% 2006 465,100 35.6% 2007 527,400 13.4% 2008 787,000 49.2% 2009 651,000 17.3% 2010 707,100 8.6% 2011 824,300 17.0% 2012 907,600 10.1% 2013 1,069,100 17.8% 2014 863,900 19.2%2015949,100 9.8%20161,033,560 8.9%20171,230,000 18.3%20181,446,500 17.7%20191,694,022 17.1%
See also List of airports in Ukraine List of the busiest airports in Ukraine List of the busiest airports in Europe List of the busiest airports in the former USSR Borys Kaufman
References
External links
Official website NOAA/NWS current weather observations ASN Accident history for UKOO