News coverage on the Stepanakert Airport, has recently drawn everybody’s attention, and mass media’s particularly; hence, the employees of “Tourinfo” magazine had left for Nagorno-Karabakh to find out some details just on the spot from head of department of civil aviation, Mr. Atbashyan. According to the “Stepanakert Airport Construction and Development” project handed to us, the construction works are completed, and the airport is going to operate in 2011. The airport will be located 10km north from the capital Stepanakert with the platform to accommodate four aircraft of ATR-42 or CRJ-200 type at the same time. As stated by 2009, the flights at the Airport were made only daytime hours, related to meteorological phenomena; therefore it was closed for 30-35 days in a year to any kind of flight.
New building allow implementing flights any time of the day, regardless of weather changes, thus increasing the number of the flights. It’s worth mentioning that the Stepanakert airport has been operating during Karabakh War since the Soviet Period. In the 1980s the airport daily made eight flights from Yerevan to Stepanakert with the number of 340-380 passengers. The economic and social recession had a great impact on the airline industry thus decreasing the flights during 1990s.
It is envisaged to make four, then seven and already in 2012 twelve flights in a week. At first the airport will implement flights from Yerevan to Stepanakert, then to North Caucasus and central parts of the Russian Federation, as well as to the Middle East. The operation of the new building will improve the conditions of life of the residents of the area, and make the way from Yerevan to Stepanakert much easier and available for both the middle and high class passengers.