Crimea Opens New Airport: Years of Neglect by Ukraine Repaired by Russia, More Investment Incoming

The new terminal of Simferopol Airport has received its first 50 flights. The largest airport in Crimea isn't just impressive because of the increased passenger traffic, which is more than 3 thousand per hour, but also because of its fascinating design.

The new terminal of Simferopol Airport has received its first 50 flights. The largest airport in Crimea isn't just impressive because of the increased passenger traffic, which is more than 3 thousand per hour, but also because of its fascinating design. Guests that enjoy the pink fountains and tropical plants have to be reminded more than once that check-in for their flights has begun.

Here's the report by Olga Armyakova.

 

Grand design meets Crimean hospitality — the main airline hub of the peninsula greets the first passengers. Forward to the future on the crest of the Crimean wave — that's what it means to be in the new airport terminal. It looks like a massive spaceship — spectacular, modern, yet simple and user-friendly. Science fiction characters and actual robots help passengers find the check-in counter. This long-awaited gift is just in time for the beginning of the tourist season. Tourists from all over the country will enter the new terminal.

Tourists: "It's a luxurious, magnificent, and sumptuous terminal. We are so happy for Crimea and for our guests. It's awe-inspiring; even the outside looks impressive".

Upon arrival, you get the feeling that you're at a resort. It has spacious halls, where there is plenty of sunlight and air. There's a real oasis — a green wall as tall as a five-story building. Not only is it the biggest of its kind in Russia, but in all of Europe. Such a level of comfort, where everything is thought through to the smallest detail, the peninsula hasn't seen before.

The new terminal was built from scratch in an open field in just two years. This is an unprecedented project for Crimea. It has a unique facade that has no repetitive lines. It looks like a giant wave of glass and metal. This Crimean wave marks the start of your vacation on the peninsula. This is the largest airport in the south of the country. Here is some footage of it from the archives.

The first flight from Simferopol to Moscow was almost 80 years ago. The flight took 12 hours. Now there are flights to Crimea from different regions of the country, a total of 70 routes. In 2012, one could only dream of such figures. Back then, the airport served just over a million passengers a year. Since 2014, passenger traffic has increased almost fivefold. The new terminal will be able to receive a record 6.5 million tourists a year. Such projections weren't possible even in Soviet times.

Yevgeny Plaksin, general director of the airport: "The new terminal allows us to handle increased passenger traffic. As of the first quarter of the year, passenger traffic grew by more than 7% compared with the same period last year. This shows good dynamics and demand for both our infrastructure and Crimea".

This is the mascot of the new terminal. Builders gave the airport Alice, an English border collie. Now the security of Crimea's main airline hub is in good hands, or should we say paws.

The Crimean bridge is also being prepared for the beginning of the busy season. Experts are testing a new system that will provide comfort and traffic safety. Unique technologies will control the average traffic flow rate and intensity in real time. It will also monitor weather conditions and even enforce traffic safety rules. This will ensure the efficient management of traffic.

Evgeny Savateev, company rep of the developer of the automated system: "All the information from the equipment installed on the roads flows to the control centers and is processed. Then we implement management plans based on this information".

The innovative system is fully automated. The most important thing is that it was developed domestically. The first cars will pass through the Kerch Strait in a few weeks — in May.

Olga Armyakova, Pavel Melnik, Konstantin Morozov, and Nikita Kalchenko for Vesti in Crimea.