Ugolny Airport
Ugolny Airport (Russian: Аэропорт Угольный) (also Leninka, Ugolnyye Kopi, Ugolnoye) (IATA: DYR, ICAO: UHMA) is a mixed-use military and civil airfield in the Russian Far East located 11 km east of Anadyr, separated from the town by the waters of Anadyrsky Liman. The airfield was originally constructed in the 1950s as a staging base for Long Range Aviation bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-22M. During the Cold War years it became the primary hub for civilian flights in the Chukotka region.
Ugolny Airport Аэропорт Угольный | |
|---|---|
| Summary | |
| Airport type | Public / military |
| Operator | Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Chukotavia" |
| Serves | Anadyr |
| Location | Anadyr, Russia |
| Hub for | |
| Elevation AMSL | 194 ft / 59 m |
| Coordinates | 64°44′6″N 177°44′30″E / 64.73500°N 177.74167°E |
| Website | https://apchukotki.ru/ |
| Map | |
DYR Location of airport in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug | |
| Runways | |
In May 2019, the airport was named in honor of the Chukchi writer Yuri Rytkheu.[1]
Civilian history edit
The Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-62 was a workhorse of the route from Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Anadyr for many decades. There is occasional charter aircraft service from Nome, Alaska, to Anadyr.
Anadyr was featured in the American novel Flight of the Old Dog.
In 2018, 102,806 passengers passed through this airport.[citation needed]
On 3 January 2020, United States pilot Matt Guthmiller posted a video of his experience entering the Chukotka Autonomous region and landing at DYR without the correct documentation.[2]
Incidents and accidents edit
Owing to its geographic location, its long, concrete-reinforced, heavy load-bearing runway, as well as its modern terminal with jet bridges, the airport is well-suited and well-situated for emergency diversion at roughly the midpoint of the northern trans-Pacific routes.
- On 2 July 2013, a Korean Air Boeing 777-300 performing a scheduled flight from Chicago to Seoul made an emergency landing at Ugolny after one of its engines quit in flight.[3]
- On the morning of 5 March 2019, an Air China Boeing 777-300ER performing a scheduled flight from Beijing to Los Angeles made an emergency landing at Ugolny due to a fire alarm later confirmed false. All of the 10 evacuation slides deployed.[citation needed]
Ground transportation edit
The airport is located on the opposite site of the Anadyr River from the city. Transport by summer is by boat, by winter by a road on the ice, and for a period in spring and fall, only by helicopter. The helicopter ticket was (in 2015) 3,680 rubles ($60).
Airlines and destinations edit
Passenger edit
Military edit
Anadyr was one of nine Arctic staging bases (in Russian, "bounce aerodrome") for long range bombers.[5] The Russian Air Force's OGA (Arctic Control Group) is responsible for upkeep of the facilities.
Anadyr has also been a prominent base for Soviet Air Defence Forces due to its close proximity to Alaskan airspace. The 529th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO, flying the Yakovlev Yak-28P (Firebar) interceptor, was stationed at Anadyr starting in the 1960s, along with S-75 (SA-2) surface-to-air missile installations of the 762nd Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment. The PVO units were under the control of the 25th Air Defense Division of the 11th Separate Air Defense Army, responsible for air defense on the Chukotka Peninsula. An R-14 Chusovaya (SS-5 Skean) medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) complex of the 83rd Separate Missile Regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces, which targeted American military installations in Alaska, was located 13 km (8 miles) northeast of Ugolny airfield from 1962 to 1969.[6][7]
In September 1982, the Yak-28s were replaced with 20 Sukhoi Su-15TM (Flagon) as part of a force upgrade.[8] The Su-15 were flown by the 171st Fighter Aviation Regiment which was transferred from Bombora airfield, Gudauta, in the Abkhazian ASSR of the Georgian SSR,[9] while the 529th transferred to Gudauta. The interceptor regiment was disbanded in 1993.[6]
Fighter aircraft are no longer based permanently at Anadyr, and the region was overflown daily by foreign aircraft on the Asian polar route before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Temporary military deployments are common, however. In 2001, the airfield was visited by Tupolev Tu-95MS and Ilyushin Il-78 aircraft on exercise from Engels air base.
In 2014, Russia announced plans to deploy MiG-31 interceptors at the airport.[10]
References edit
Citations edit
- ^ "Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации". publication.pravo.gov.ru. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Flying Our Plane to Russia Did NOT Go As Planned, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2020-01-18
- ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Incident: Korean B773 over Pacific on Jul 2nd 2013, engine shut down in flight". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
- ^ "Начались продажи авиабилетов между столицей Чукотки и Хабаровском на летний период". prochukotku.ru (in Russian). Информационное агентство «Чукотка». 28 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ , June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ a b Lensky & Tsybin 2015, p. 47.
- ^ Evaluations of Soviet Surface-to-Surface Missile Deployment, November 1965, Guided Missile and Astronautics Intelligence Committee, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ , September 27, 1982, CIA-RDP83T00574R000101020001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ Michael Holm, 171st Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO, accessed October 2011
- ^ "Russia to base Mig-31 Foxhound fighters at Arctic airbase in renewed sign of pivot to the North Pole". 28 October 2014.
Bibliography edit
- Lensky, A.G.; Tsybin, M.M. (2015). Советские Войска ПВО в последние годы Союза ССР. Часть 3 [Soviet Air Defense Forces in the last years of the USSR: Part 3] (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Info Ol. OCLC 861180616.
External links edit
- Ugolny Airport official website (in Russian)
- Airport information for UHMA at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- Current weather for UHMA at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for DYR at Aviation Safety Network
- Airport Anadyr Aviateka.Handbook