Semei International Airport (Kazakh: Semei Halyqaralyq Äuejaiy) (IATA: PLX, ICAO: UASS), formerly New Semei (Kazakh: Jañasemei) and named after Abai Qunanbaiuly, is an airport in Semei, Kazakhstan, located 10 km (6.2 mi) south-west[1] of the city. It services large airliners. The airfield contains two groups of alert fighter pads. A 400 m (1,300 ft) overrun exists at each end of runway 08/26.
Established in 1929, it is Kazakhstan's oldest international airport.
In 1960, the 356th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO of the Soviet Air Defence Forces arrived at the base from Irkutsk.[2] Equipped with MiG-17s and Yak-25s, it was placed under the 33rd Air Defence Division, 14th Independent Air Defence Army. It was later equipped with both the Tupolev Tu-128 and MiG-31.
Declassified CIA documents indicate that in the late 1960s, during the height of the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union used this airfield as a bomber staging base for Chinese targets, and at times the Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder was identified here.[citation needed]
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FlyArystan | Almaty,[3] Astana,[4] Shymkent |
| Southern Sky | Ürjar |
See also
References
- ^ a b AIP Kazakhstan Archived 2013-06-16 at archive.today
- ^ "356th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
- ^ "FlyArystan adds Almaty – Semei service from Dec 2019". Routesonline.
- ^ "FlyArystan expands Nur-Sultan operations from Oct 2019". Routesonline.
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