Minsk National Airport

Minsk National Airport Нацыянальны аэрапорт Мінск Национальный аэропорт Минск
IATA: MSQ ICAO: UMMS
Summary
Airport type	Public
Serves	Minsk, Belarus
Location	Kastrychnitski
Hub for	Belavia
Elevation AMSL	204 m / 669 ft
Coordinates	53°52′57″N 28°01′57″E / 53.88250°N 28.03250°E / 53.88250; 28.03250Coordinates: 53°52′57″N 28°01′57″E / 53.88250°N 28.03250°E / 53.88250; 28.03250
Website	airport.by
Map
MSQ Location of airport in Belarus
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13/31 3,641 11,942 Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 3,429,112 Passenger change 15–16 23.2%
Sources: ACI's 2014 World Airport Traffic Report.

Passengers	3,429,112
Passenger change 15–16	23.2%

Minsk National Airport (IATA: MSQ, ICAO: UMMS), (Belarusian: Нацыянальны аэрапорт Мінск, [natsɨjaˈnalʲnɨ aeraˈport mʲinsk]; Russian: Национальный аэропорт Минск), formerly named Minsk-2 - not to be confused with the now defunct Minsk-1 Airport near downtown Minsk -, is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km (26 mi) to the east of the capital Minsk, geographically lying in the territory of Smalyavichy Raion, but administratively being subordinated to Kastrychnitski District of Minsk. The airport serves as hub of the national Belarusian airline Belavia and the cargo carriers TransAVIAexport Airlines and Genex.

In 1977 in the environs of the Belarusian capital the building of the new airport "Minsk-2" was begun. In 1979 the new runway 3,640-m-long and 60-m-wide was put into operation. In 1981 the airdrome "Minsk-2" was already able to handle aircraft in 1982 the airport was opened. The first passenger flight was operated on the plane Tupolev Tu-134. 11 years later the airport was completely built. The terminal of the unique architectural project with the carrying capacity – 5,8 million passengers a year was put into operation.

The regular flights began from 1983, in 1990 the passenger traffic reached 2,2 million passengers. But from 1991 the unexpected decrease of the flights began. That took place because of the Soviet Union collapse and other changes caused by this historical event. In 1997 the number of the passengers was 516,000, in 1998 – 480,000, in 2000 – only 400,000 passengers. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the first million passengers was handled by Minsk National Airport in 2008. Due to the substantial growth in passenger traffic 2008 became a significant mark for the airport.