Gomel Airport
| Gomel Airport Аэрапорт Гомель Аэропорт Гомель | |||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Serves | Gomel | ||||||||||
| Location | Gomel raion | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 472 ft / 144 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°31′37″N 31°01′00″E / 52.52694°N 31.01667°ECoordinates: 52°31′37″N 31°01′00″E / 52.52694°N 31.01667°E | ||||||||||
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  GME Location of airport in Belarus | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Gomel Airport (IATA: GME, ICAO: UMGG) is an airport located 3 km north-east from Gomel, the second-largest city in Belarus. It was opened in 1968.
History
Since the mid-1950s, regular flights to Minsk and Kiev from the old Gomel airport to remote regional centers of the region, and sanitary and agricultural aviation were also based here.
In 1968 the current airport was built with a concrete runway, to which An-24 was the first to land. Subsequently, the airport began to accept and larger aircraft. In 1985, a new passenger terminal of the airport (architect V. Bespalov) was built, united with the old building by a one-storey annex. In 1993, the airport received international status. The airport operates border, customs and sanitary services, as well as service departments and has a capacity of 500 passengers per hour.
Gomel airport was a hub of Gomelavia airline, which ceased operations on 22 February 2011 due to bankruptcy. Gomelavia had been serving flights to Minsk, Moscow, Grodno and Kaliningrad. From 25 July 2011 Belarusian flag carrier, Belavia, started serving flights from Gomel to Kaliningrad during summer seasons once again.
Besides Belarusian air companies, Latvian flag carrier AirBaltic had served flights between Gomel and Riga in 2006, but this destination has been defunct ever since.
Gomel airport is now mainly used for charter flights to Italy, Belgium, Spain and some other Western European countries, those flights are organised by Western European organisations that take children from Gomel to Western Europe to host families for recreation purposes.
In summer 2014, because of local population's awareness about instability and ongoing war in Ukraine, Belavia started to carry out new charter flights from Gomel to Thessaloniki and Burgas. Flights to Kaliningrad since summer 2014 have a stopover at Minsk National Airport.[1]
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Belavia | Seasonal: Kaliningrad[2] Seasonal charter: Antalya,[3] Sharm el-Sheikh[3] |
Ground transport
Suburban bus route from airport to Gomel central bus station goes once a day in both directions. Along the route buses make a few stops – near the St. Trinity temple, the university and at the Vosstaniya (Uprising) square.
References
- ↑ Инанец, Снежана (13 June 2014). "Выйти из штопора. История о том, как возрождается гомельский аэропорт". TUT.BY (in Russian). ООО «ТУТ БАЙ МЕДИА». Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ↑ "TIMETABLE SUMMER - 2018 (25.03.2018 - 27.10.2018)" (PDF). Belavia.by. Belavia. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- 1 2 "freight monitor". online.joinup.ua. 9 July 2018.
External links
