Sabetta Airport. Yamal district, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District

The first arctic hub in Russia is the international airport of Sabetta. It is located not far from the settlement of the same name in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The air-transport junction is of strategic importance for the development of the oil and gas industry in the region.

Location:

The Sabetta rotation camp is located in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The air harbor is located on the eastern shore of the Yamal Peninsula, near the Ob Bay, which belongs to the Kara Sea.

Infrastructure of the Yamal district

The Yamal area is quite difficult to develop and develop minerals. This is due not only to the harsh climate, but also to the underdevelopment of the infrastructure. One of the key tasks of the Yamal LNG project is to solve this problem.

The nearest air transport hub near Sabetta was Bovanenkovo airport earlier . It was opened by the end of 2012 and is entirely owned by Gazprom. At the same distance from the village is the nearest railway station "Karskaya". Therefore, the problem of transport infrastructure seriously hampered the development of the South Tambeyskoye field.

Sabetta Airport (Yamal): construction

The construction of an air transportation hub near the village of Sabetta was a large-scale project "Yamal LNG". This project provides for the construction of the transport infrastructure of the South Tambeyskoye field, which is one of the largest in the Yamal-Nenets AO for natural gas reserves. There is also a plant producing liquefied natural gas. Work on the construction of transport infrastructure was started in 2012, when they began to build the airport Sabetta. In the same year the construction of a sea port began. The port is intended for navigation throughout the year along the Northern Sea Route. In the long term, the Russian icebreaker fleet will be located here.

The operator of the Arctic "air gates" is the limited liability company "Sabetta International Airport", which, in turn, owns the Yamal LNG enterprise that implements the development project of the South Tambeyskoye field. Among the shareholders of Yamal LNG:

1. Independent Russian company Novatek (holds 60% of shares).
2. The French oil and gas company Total (20% of shares).
3. National Oil and Gas Corporation of China CNPC (20% stake).

The total investment in the project "Yamal CIS", according to preliminary estimates, amounted to about 27 billion dollars. Over the year, natural gas production reaches 30 billion cubic meters. The gas is mainly exported in a liquefied state. The estimated stock of raw materials is about 492 billion cubic meters, and other liquid hydrocarbons - 14 million tons.

The construction of the arctic hub assumed the use of the latest technologies for the erection of structures on permafrost flooded soils. The project for the construction of a two-story building of the airport complex was published in late 2013 on the Internet portal Novatek. In early 2014, the Yamal LNG company reported that, according to preliminary estimates, the amount of investment in the construction of an air hub amounted to 150 million rubles.

The project for the construction of the complex assumed two stages of work. The first included the construction of a service and passenger terminal located on an area of 36 × 42 m. The second provided for the construction of an international terminal on an area of 36 × 36.5 m and buildings for the command and control tower. Thus, both terminals should be located on an area of 36 × 78.5 m. Initially, the opening of the first Arctic airport was planned for June 2015.

The project of the airfield complex included the construction of runways, hangars for aircraft. The construction of the runway was completed by December 2014.

In July 2015, the airport management received a certificate of compliance for the airport. The aerial node was also included in the state register. On October 5 of the same year, the Interstate Aviation Committee officially recognized the suitability of the airport for receiving and sending international flights. And on December 24, a checkpoint across the state border was opened.

Sabetta Airport: discovery

Despite the fact that the opening of the hub was planned for 2015, the first flight was adopted in 2014. On December 22, the first plane flew to the village of Sabetta. They were "Boeing 737" domestic carrier "UTair." The flight was mostly of a technical nature. Reception of aircraft and passenger flights began on February 2, 2015. For international flights, the airport opened on July 29 of the same year. The reason for this was the order of the Russian government, as well as the installation of a cargo and passenger crossing point across the state border. The first international flight took place on the night of March 4, 2016, which was carried out along the Beijing-Sabetta-Moscow route. The aircraft arrived from the Chinese capital and delivered four passengers to Sabetta (Yamal district), after which it set off for Moscow.

Runway characteristics

Sabetta Airport has a runway made of reinforced concrete, which fully meets the requirements of the first category of ICAO. The dimensions of the strip are 2704 m in length and 46 m in width.

Accepted types of aircraft

The Arctic hub can receive and send airliners of the following types:

• "IL-76".
• "Airbus A-320".
• "Boeing 737-300".
• "Boeing 767-200".

It is also capable of accepting aircraft with lighter take-off mass and all types of helicopters.

Airlines, flights

Currently, Sabetta airport is engaged in servicing scheduled passenger flights operated by domestic companies UTair and Yamal.

UTair operates flights from Sabetta to Moscow (Vnukovo Airport), Novy Urengoy and Samara. Air carrier "Yamal" carries out flights to Moscow (Domodedovo airport) and Novy Urengoy.

Thus, the Arctic airport of Sabetta has an important strategic national importance. It was built within the Yamal LNG project, designed to improve the transport infrastructure of the South Tambey natural gas field. The construction of the hub began almost from scratch in 2012 and was completed by the end of 2014. Vladimir Putin notes that the project is financed through private and public funds. The general director of UTair Aviation JSC A. Martirosov believes that the opening of the airport will increase the level of transport accessibility of the Yamal Peninsula and will be the impetus for the development of the north-west of Siberia. Sabetta actually became the largest international air transportation hub in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.