#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Norilsk Airport received a new status – international. This is a unique event, because air transport for Norilsk is the only year-round communication channel with the mainland.
The Nornickel company, which has been operating in the Arctic latitudes of the Taimyr peninsula for almost a century and ensuring the airport complex functioning, has approached the authorities with the initiative to grant international status to one of the northernmost airports in Russia and the world.
The decision was taken as soon as possible. The new status not only allows abroad flights, but also gives the right to establish in the Arctic one more air cargo-passenger multilateral checkpoint across the Russian Federation state border.
“In recent months, large-scale work has been carried out: together with the relevant federal and regional departments, we managed to achieve the assignment of international status to Norilsk airport. First of all, this solves the logistical problems associated with the implementation of the largest investment projects in the territory, and also opens up additional opportunities for Norilsk residents to travel abroad.
We are absolutely sure that all this together will bring a new positive impetus to the development of Norilsk”, said Nikolay Utkin, Nornickel’s senior vice president, the Norilsk Division head.
Now Nornickel is implementing major investment projects important for the entire Russian Arctic in difficult logistical conditions, such as the flagship environmental Sulfur Program, the development of production capacities and transport infrastructure in the Far North.
Earlier, with the Nornickel’s active participation, a large-scale modernization of the Norilsk airport complex and facilities of the airfield infrastructure was carried out on the terms of a public-private partnership. It ran from 2016 to 2020. The most difficult stage was the runway reconstruction, during which air communication with Norilsk did not stop. Carrying out the runway reconstruction of this magnitude without stopping the operation of the airport in the Arctic is a unique experience not only for Russia, but also for world aviation. The airport continued to serve aircraft and passengers, and the socially significant connection between Norilsk and the mainland was not interrupted. The volume of investments in the airport modernization amounted to more than 12.5 billion rubles. Of these, 5.8 billion are investments by Nornickel.
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Text: Victor Tsaryov, photo: Nornickel press service
