Airport

History

December 19, 1957. On this day, the official government decree was issued, to build a new IV class Kurumoch Airport as part of the Privolzhsky Territory Administration.

July 30, 1960. In accordance with an Order from the General Administration for Civil Aviation, attached to the Counsel of Ministers of the USSR, day and night training flights on the IL-18 and An-10 aircraft types were permitted to commence operations at Kurumoch aerodrome. The flights were to be operated by the Higher Flight Training School of the Civil Aviation Authority, and the same Order also permitted “To consider Kurumoch Airport a reserve aerodrome during daytime hours for turboliners and turboprop aircraft”.

February 14, 1961. In accordance with instructions from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Privolzhsky Territory Administration, a separate An-10 squadron was created at Kurumoch Airport. Konstantin Sapunkov was appointed the squadron commander and the aircrew commenced their training on the An-10 aircraft type under operational aerodrome conditions. On April 11, 1961 the flying unit was rated as “Turboprop Aircraft Squadron No. 65”.

February 27, 1961. The first flight took place with a cargo An-10 flight departing for Moscow (Sheremetyevo Airport). The commander of this historic flight was Konstantin Sapunkov, assisted by co-pilot Vladimir Mikhailov, navigator Andrey Shkurupy, flight engineer Pavel Gribov and flight radio operator Adler Iksanov. 

May 15, 1961. Kurumoch Airport welcomed its first passengers with the inauguration of a new air route connecting the cities of Samara (formerly Kuibyshev) and Mineralnye Vody, again using An-10 aircraft. Subsequent routes were quickly established as scheduled flights commenced to Leningrad, Tashkent, Adler, Tbilisi, Sverdlovsk and other cities of the former Soviet Union. Slowly but steadily the Airport expanded, handling increasing numbers of passengers as well as offering more and more destinations.

1965 – 1970. During this period, many changes were taking place. The construction of new and reconstruction of the existing Airport’s facilities began. A maintenance depot, a baggage delivery area, a new 5-storey hotel, and a boiler-house were put into operation. The fuel and lubricants warehouse was reconstructed and expanded too. Runway RWY-I was also reinforced. In 1970 the Airport handled more than 700,000 passengers together with 27,000 tonnes of cargo and mail. 

1971 – 1980. Throughout this decade the Airport was actively developed, not only with the opening of the second runway (RWY-II), but also with the construction of the Aviation Training Centre, the Communications Department’s repair station and the new Air Traffic Control tower. In addition to these new developments, the existing passenger terminal building was expanded and renovated, at the same time as a necessary waste water treatment facility was also brought into service. Concurrent with these infrastructure changes, the operations personnel at the Airport were transitioning to several new aircraft types (including the Tu-134, Yak-40 and Tu-154) as they began to enter commercial service there. 

1981 – 1990. The development of the Airport’s facilities continued with the construction of a new electrical substation and the introduction of an instrument landing system that allowed aircraft to complete safe landings under adverse weather conditions. The Airport also completed its second large-scale redevelopment of the air terminal building during this time, as the number of passengers handled by Kurumoch reached a new yearly peak of 3,700,000. Because of this increasing demand, provision was also made for many more aircraft parking ramps. 

1991 – 2000. The first part of this decade saw a huge decrease in the passenger flow through Samara Airport, and this situation remained the norm up until 1998. The reason was the well reported crisis in the transitional Russian economy at that time, which made air travel prohibitively expensive to all but a very few. Regardless of such difficult operating conditions, the Airport and its staff persevered and in 1992 obtained international airport status. The following year the international arrivals terminal became operational, with Border and Customs Services established at the Airport to facilitate inaugural direct flights from Turkey, Greece, Israel, China, and the United Arab Emirates. On the 19^th of February 1993 and in accordance with the Presidential edict regarding the incorporation and privatization of state enterprises, the Samara United Air Group was formed into Samara Airlines OJSC. On December 9, 1994, and following the same edict, Samara International Airport OJSC was created as a result of its withdrawal from Samara Airlines OJSC. 

2001. The Samara Aviation Group of Companies was created with Samara International Airport as its base. This is the holding company of the many independent enterprises providing aviation and general services at the Airport.

May 31, 2002. In accordance with the shareholders’ resolution, the Airport reverted to its historical name. Since that date, it has been known as Kurumoch International Airport.

June 27, 2003. In accordance with the shareholders’ resolution, Kurumoch International Airport OJSC was withdrawn from the Samara Aviation Group of Companies.
 
2003 – 2004. The Samara Aviation Group of Companies was restructured and, as a result, all aviation operations were returned to Kurumoch International Airport OJSC. A new enterprise called Airport-Trade-Holding Management Company took over the provision of general services at the Airport. Nowadays this Company comprises of the following enterprises: Samara Fuel Company (TZK Samara), RASIP-VIP, Avialunch, Aviahotel and RASIP-Travel. 

2005. The Aeroproekt Research Institute of Moscow produced a Feasibility Study for Investment in the Reconstruction and Modernization of Kurumoch International Airport. This study was authorized in response to the Federal Target Programme “Modernization of Transportation System of Russia for the period 2002 – 2010” (the Civil Aviation sub programme) and this programme was originally approved by the Russian Federation Government Regulation № 848 as of 5 October 2001, in 2005. 

2007. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and Rosaviatsiya developed their Concept for the Aerodrome (Airport) Network Development of the Russian Civil Aviation till 2020. The Concept defines the list of the largest international airports now regarded as air transport hubs in the establishing national networks of airports. That list also includes Kurumoch International Airport.