Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport

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Nursultan Nazarbayev
International Airport

Халықаралық Нұрсұлтан
Назарбаев Әуежайы
Halyqaralyq
Nursultan Nazarbaev Áýejaıy
210720 NQZ Terminal view.jpg
  • IATA: NQZ
  • ICAO: UACC
  • LID: АКЛ
  • WMO: 35188
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorJSC Astana International Airport
ServesNur-Sultan, Akmola Region
LocationYesil District, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Opened1963; 58 years ago (1963)
Hub for
  • Air Astana
Focus city for
Time zoneALMT (UTC+06:00)
Elevation AMSL355 m / 1,165 ft
Coordinates51°01′19″N 071°28′01″E / 51.02194°N 71.46694°E / 51.02194; 71.46694Coordinates: 51°01′19″N 071°28′01″E / 51.02194°N 71.46694°E / 51.02194; 71.46694
Websitenn-airport.kz
Map
NQZ is located in Kazakhstan
NQZ
NQZ
Location in Yesil District, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 3,500 11,483 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
PassengersIncrease 5,099,391
Passenger change 18-19Increase 12.1%
Sources: Airport Statistics
AIP Kazakhstan[1]

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (IATA: NQZ, ICAO: UACC) (Kazakh: Халықаралық Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев Әуежайы, romanized: Halyqaralyq Nursultan Nazarbaev Áýejaıy; until June 2017 Astana International Airport) is an international airport in the Akmola Region, Kazakhstan. It is the primary international airport serving Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan. The airport is the second-busiest international air passenger gateway into Central Asia (after Almaty International Airport), the 13th busiest airport in the Post-Soviet states and the second-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic in Kazakhstan, with 5,099,391 passengers in 2019.

It is located in the Yesil administrative subdivision of Nur-Sultan, 16.7 km (10.4 mi) south-east of the city centre. The airport features two passenger terminals and one runway as well as cargo and maintenance facilities. Terminal 2 was designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. It serves as the primary hub of Kazakhstan's flag carrier – Air Astana, and is the primary operating base for SCAT Airlines, low-cost carrier – FlyArystan, Qazaq Air and was also formerly a hub for Starlines Kazakhstan and Tselinograd OAO.

The facility opened in 1931; 90 years ago (1931) as Akmolinsk Airport and was renamed several times, previously known as Tselinograd Airport and then as Astana International Airport. With a government decree, the airport was renamed Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport as a tribute to the first President. On June 8, 2020, the airport officially changed its three-character IATA airport code from TSE to NQZ.[2]

History[]

The airport was built in 1930, three kilometers away from Akmolinsk (now – Nur-Sultan) within the area of today's modern architectural tower of Baiterek. There was a square field for aircraft take-off and landing, an adobe 8-room station with a small waiting hall, a two-room house for pilots, and fuel storage on the airport grounds. In December 1931, the first airfield of Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) was built on the outskirts of the town and was developed further after World War II. Regular air traffic was established between Semipalatinsk and Akmolinsk (day of enterprise establishment).[3]

During times of flooding, the aerodrome was closed. Communication between aerodrome and city was by phone, ferry (there was no bridge over Ishim River), and footpath. In the first few years, the air traffic was ad-hoc by character, with loose timetables, such as "Aircraft departure on Monday morning" or "On Wednesday at sunrise". Transportation of passengers, mail, and cargo were carried out by Kalinin K-4, Kalinin K-5, Polikarpov R-5, Petlyakov Pe-2 aircraft. Regular flights were established in 1934, with the following routes: 1. Alma-Ata – Karaganda – Akmolinsk – Atbasar – Kostanay – Sverdlovsk. Karaganda – Petropavlovsk – Korgalzhyn – Akmolinsk.[3]

At the beginning of 1946, the first group of Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft arrived in Akmolinsk for regular service. The group belonged to a Karaganda aviation enterprise. The following routes were opened for passenger and mail transportation: Akmolinsk – Korgalzhyn – Aksu – Astrakhanka – Balkashino (settlements of Akmolinsk region). The operations division was organized consisting of two people. In 1946, aviation began to render services for the national economy – medical aviation.[3]

From 1947 to 1948, the fleet consisting of three Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft was formed at the Akmolinsk airport base. This fleet was part of an air group that was based in Karaganda. The airport was equipped with modern equipment (for that days), construction development has started: a Finnish house for a radio station, three buildings and a garage were built. The total number of staff numbered 40 to 50 people. The airport has begun servicing heavier types of aircraft Lisunov Li-2 in addition to light aircraft. On November 4, 1963, Tselinograd Airport (formerly known as – Akmolinsk) accepted the first Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft in the new terminal, located 18 kilometers from the city. In December 1963, Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft began to operate regular flights. The airport terminal was at a building stage, therefore the adapted two-storeyed building served as the air terminal, where the air traffic control service has been located.[3]

In February 1966, the new air terminal was transferred into operation, and in June of the same year, all services of united aviagroup relocated to the new airport. By 1969, the aircraft park of Tselinograd aviagroup was replenished with the first Antonov An-24 aircraft. With the arrival of the Antonov An-24, the volume of passenger, mail, and cargo transportation sharply increased. People began to fly to many cities of the former Soviet Union. In 1975, the Tupolev Tu-154 has firstly landed in the airport. Since this moment regular flights by Tupolev Tu-154 on the Alma-Ata – Tselinograd – Moscow route has been opened. The historical mark for Akmola (Nur-Sultan) aviators was the change of the capital in 1998. Airdrome reconstruction begun and finished in a relatively short time: the runway with artificial covering was extended for about 3500 meters; the taxiway and apron were also expanded. Lighting systems and radio navigation equipment were replaced. The VIP building was constructed, and the airport complex was reconstructed.[3]

On February 2, 2005, a large-scale international airport reconstruction project was completed with the grand opening of the new 25,000 square-meter passenger terminal. The number of check-in counters was increased to 24 along with two luggage straps. Currently, the Terminal 2 is used to service domestic flights. On November 19, 2015, the grand opening of the 2,400 square-meter Business Aviation Terminal took place. The BAT area has a 200-passenger per hour capacity. The terminal building housed a lounge bar, a conference hall, rooms for negotiations, convenience for passengers with children, a duty-free shop, there are 52 parking spaces for guests.[3]

Within the framework of the Infrastructure Development Program, a new passenger terminal for international flights was built in 2017. A new terminal of 47,000 square meters adds six new aircraft parking lots with landing sleeves and four bus landing routes to the airport infrastructure and also includes a variety of technologies and processes designed to improve the quality of service at the airport.[3]

"N" stands for Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, as well as the name of the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan. "QZ" is an acronym for Qazaqstan according to the new version of Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin script.[4]

Facilities[]

The airport is the primary hub of Air Astana and is a primary operating base for SCAT Airlines, low-cost carrier – FlyArystan, Qazaq Air. It has two passenger terminals (T1 and T2), a business aviation terminal as well as cargo and maintenance facilities. In 2019, it served 5,099,391 passengers, an increase of 12.1% compared to 2018, making it the second-busiest airport in Kazakhstan. The busiest single destination in passenger numbers is Almaty.

Runway[]

The airport resides at an elevation of 355 m (1,165 ft) above mean sea level. The airport has a single active runway in use designated 04/22 with an asphalt/concrete surface measuring 3,500 m × 45 m (11,483 ft × 148 ft). The airport is equipped with a Category IIIA (both directions) Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to guide landing aircraft safely under very poor weather conditions and also allowing planes to land in low visibility conditions, such as fog. The airport is able to accommodate jets the size of the Il-76, Antonov An-124 Ruslan, and Boeing 747-400F.

It can also accept light aircraft and helicopters of all types.

Runway at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport
Direction Length Width Surface Operational Years Last Major Improvement Usage ILS Notes
04/22 11,483 ft
3,500 m 		149 ft
45 m 		Concrete/Asphalt 1931 - Current 2019 Primary runway Cat. IIIA (both directions) The runway is 3,500 metres long, with supporting taxiway systems. The runway is dedicated for arrivals and departures.

Terminals[]

Passenger terminal
Terminal Opened Floor area Handling capacity Parking bays
T1 – International Terminal 31 May 2017; 4 years ago (2017-05-31) 47 000 m2 5 200 000 6 (aerobridge)
4 (remote)
T2 – Domestic Terminal 2 February 2005; 16 years ago (2005-02-02) 23 892 m2 3 000 000 6 (aerobridge)
4 (remote)
Total 1 December 1931; 90 years ago (1931-12-01) 70 892 m2 8 200 000 12 (aerobridge)
92 (remote)

There are separate terminal buildings for domestic and international flights. Both terminals are adjacent, sharing a single car park and have a connecting corridor for transit passengers.

T1 – International Terminal[]

The new international terminal (labelled "T1") opened in June 2017.[5] Plans for the new terminal show 5–6 new departure gates complementing the gates in the previously existing terminal building.[6] 47,000 sq. M. and completed construction in time for the EXPO 2017, and took the role of T1 – International Terminal. The new terminal adds 6 new aircraft parking lots with landing sleeves and 4 bus landing routes to the Airport infrastructure, and also includes a variety of technologies and processes designed to improve the quality of service at the Airport. The new terminal has a public catering area of 1000 square meters, retail outlets occupy 1,300 square meters.

T2 – Domestic Terminal[]

The concept of T2 - terminal building has been designed by the late Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. With the opening of the new international terminal, the old terminal (now labelled "T2") is now dedicated to departures and arrivals of domestic flights. T2 - was the original and only terminal when the airport was reconstructed in 2005. On 2 February 2005, the grand opening of the T2 passenger terminal of the airport took place. The terminal area is more than 25 thousand square meters. Number of check-in counters - 24, 2 luggage straps. The design of the airport is the fusion of eastern and western traditions. The building has five floors, panoramic elevators, escalators, aerobridges, lounges and the system of automatic check-in for passengers, airport shops, restaurants, cafes, a pharmacy, a call-center, Wi-Fi and other facilities.

Airlines and destinations[]

Passenger[]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled, seasonal and charter flights to and from Nur-Sultan:[7]

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Air Astana Aktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Baku, Beijing–Capital, Dubai–International, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kazan, Kyiv–Boryspil, Kyzylorda, London–Heathrow,[8] Moscow–Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Oral, Oskemen, Saint Petersburg, Seoul–Incheon, Shymkent, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Urumqi, Yekaterinburg
Seasonal: Antalya, Podgorica[9]
Seasonal charter: Bodrum, Kittilä, Sharm El Sheikh
Air China Beijing–Capital
Belavia Minsk
China Southern Airlines Guangzhou, Ürümqi
Corendon Airlines[10] Seasonal: Antalya
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi
FlyArystanAktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Balkhash, Karaganda, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Kyzylorda, Oral, Oskemen, Pavlodar, Petropavl, Semey, Shymkent, Taldykorgan, Taraz, Turkistan, Uralsk, Usharal, Zhezkazgan
flydubai Dubai–International
Gulf Air Bahrain
LOT Polish AirlinesWarsaw–Chopin
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Qatar Airways Doha
Qazaq Air Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Kostanay, Omsk,[11] Oskemen, Pavlodar, Petropavl, Semey, Shymkent, Taldykorgan, Taraz, Turkistan, Zhezkazgan
Seasonal: Balkhash, Usharal
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo, Novosibirsk
SCAT AirlinesAktau, Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Balkhash, Dushanbe, Kyzylorda, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow–Vnukovo, Oral, Oskemen, Pavlodar, Prague, Ras Al Khaimah,[12] Semey, Shymkent, Taraz, Ulaanbaatar, Xi'an, Yerevan
Seasonal: Batumi, Sochi, Usharal
Sunday AirlinesTokyo–Narita
Seasonal: Antalya
Charter: Sharm El Sheikh
Seasonal charter: Hurghada, Pattaya–U-Tapao, Phuket, Sanya
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
Wizz Air Abu Dhabi,[13] Budapest

Cargo[]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Bridge Cargo Dhaka, Hanoi, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Shanghai-Pudong
CargoluxLuxembourg
Cargolux ItaliaMilan-Malpensa
Emirates Sky CargoDubai-Al Maktoum
Ethiopian Airlines CargoAddis Ababa, Delhi
Etihad Crystal CargoAbu Dhabi
Korean Air CargoNavoi, Seoul-Incheon
Qatar Airways CargoDoha
SF AirlinesChangsha, Chengdu, Chongqing
SF ExpressKunming, Nanning, Zhengzhou
Silk Way AirlinesBaku
Turkish Cargo Istanbul–Atatürk
YTO Cargo AirlinesXi'an

Statistics[]

Passenger figures[]

Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport Passenger Totals. See source Wikidata query.
Passenger figures, 2004 – 2019[14]
Year Passengers Change on previous year
2004 496,240[15] Increase024.9%
2005 657,550[15] Increase032.5%
2006 834,299[16]
 Increase0 26.9%
2007 1,171,000[16]
 Increase0 40.4%
2008 1,316,000[16]
 Increase012.4%
2009 1,309,000[16]
 Decrease0 0.5%
2010 1,620,000[16]
 Increase0 23.8%
2011 1,984,000[16]
 Increase0 22.5%
2012 2,303,143[15] Increase0 16.1%
2013 2,609,431[15] Increase0 13.3%
2014 2,960,181[15] Increase0 13.5%
2015 3,366,560[15] Increase0 13.7%
2016 3,452,714[15] Increase0 2.2%
2017 4,294,145[15] Increase0 24.8%
2018 4,545,373[15] Increase0 6.8%
2019 5,099,391[15] Increase0 12.1%

Busiest routes[]

Almaty International Airport was the most popular domestic route with 144 weekly flights.

Busiest domestic routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)[17]
Rank Region City Airport(s) IATA Weekly Departures Airlines
1. Kazakhstan Almaty Almaty Almaty International Airport ALA 144 Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
2. Kazakhstan Shymkent Shymkent Shymkent International Airport CIT 41 Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
3. Kazakhstan Atyrau Region Atyrau Atyrau International Airport GUW 33 Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
4. Kazakhstan East Kazakhstan Region Oskemen Oskemen Airport UKK 30 Air Astana, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
5. Kazakhstan Aktobe Region Aktobe Aktobe International Airport AKX 29 Air Astana, FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
6. Kazakhstan Mangystau Region Aktau Aktau International Airport SCO 19 Air Astana, SCAT Airlines
7. Kazakhstan Jambyl Region Taraz Aulie-Ata International Airport DMB 19 SCAT Airlines
8. Kazakhstan Kostanay Region Kostanay Kostanay Airport KSN 17 FlyArystan, Qazaq Air, SCAT Airlines
9. Kazakhstan Kyzylorda Region Kyzylorda Kyzylorda Airport KZO 13 Air Astana, FlyArystan
10. Kazakhstan West Kazakhstan Region Oral Oral Ak Zhol Airport URA 10 Air Astana
Busiest CIS routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)[17]
Rank Country City Airport(s) IATA Weekly Departures Airlines
1. Russia Russian Federation Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport,
Domodedovo International Airport,
Vnukovo International Airport,
Zhukovsky International Airport 		SVO
DME
VKO
ZIA 		31 Aeroflot,
Air Astana, S7 Airlines
SCAT Airlines,
FlyArystan
2. Uzbekistan Republic of Uzbekistan Tashkent Islam Karimov Tashkent International Airport TAS 10 Air Astana, Uzbekistan Airways
3. Russia Russian Federation Novosibirsk Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport OVB 9 Air Astana, S7 Airlines
4. Belarus Republic of Belarus Minsk Minsk National Airport MSQ 7 Belavia
5. Russia Russian Federation Yekaterinburg Koltsovo International Airport SVX 6 Air Astana
6. Russia Russian Federation Saint Petersburg Fyodor Dostoyevsky International Airport LED 5 Air Astana
7. Russia Russian Federation Omsk Omsk Tsentralny Airport OMS 5 Air Astana
8. Tajikistan Republic of Tajikistan Dushanbe Dushanbe International Airport DYU 5 SCAT Airlines
9. Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Republic Bishkek Manas International Airport FRU 3 Air Astana
10. Ukraine Ukraine Kyiv Boryspil International Airport KBP 3 Air Astana
Busiest international routes to and from Nur-Sultan by weekly flights (2020)[17]
Rank Country City Airport(s) IATA Weekly Departures Airlines
1. Turkey Turkey Istanbul Istanbul Airport IST 12 Air Astana, Turkish Airlines
2. Germany Germany Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main International Airport FRA 10 Air Astana, Lufthansa
3. United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai International Airport DXB 10 Air Astana, flydubai
4. China China Beijing Beijing Capital International Airport PEK 6 Air Astana, Air China
5. China China Urumqi Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport URC 5 Air Astana, China Southern Airlines
6. United Kingdom United Kingdom London Heathrow Airport LHR 4 Air Astana
7. Poland Poland Warsaw Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport WAW 3 LOT Polish Airlines
8. United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi International Airport AUH 2 Etihad Airways
9. France France Paris Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport CGD 2 Air Astana
10. South Korea South Korea Seoul Incheon International Airport ICN 2 Air Astana

Access[]

Public transport[]

Bus[]

No. 10 and 12 municipal bus lines connects the airport with the city centre of Nur-Sultan. Service is available from 06:00 to 22:00 and run from the airport (just outside the airport) to the city center and vice versa with intermediate stops in between. The single fare is Tenge symbol.svg 150.

Car and taxi[]

The airport is located on the Regional Road P3, about 16.7 kilometers (12 mi) from the city center and about 25 minutes drive, depending on traffic. There is extensive car and motorcycle parking space available. Taxis are also available directly outside the terminal building at the airport parking lot (Yandex.Taxi and inDriver). Many taxi companies offer a flat-rate for to/from Airport trips (the rate is usually Tenge symbol.svg 1,650), booked via mobile app.

See also[]

  • Transport in Kazakhstan
  • List of airports in Kazakhstan
  • Kokshetau International Airport (located in Akmola Region 287 km (178 mi) from Nur-Sultan)
  • List of the busiest airports in the former USSR

References[]

  1. ^ AIP Kazakhstan
  2. ^ "Переименован он теперь". Время (in Russian). Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "History; Get know the history of the Airport". nn-airport.kz. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport code officially changes to NQZ". Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Astana International Airport's new terminal takes the first international flight". Central Asia Aero News. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Astana International Airport Kazakhstan". Mabetex. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport Flight Schedule". Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Air Astana to resume London route".
  9. ^ "Air Astana to launch flights to Montenegro's Podgorica in June". seenews.com. 24 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Antalya". corendonairlines.com.
  11. ^ "Qazaq Air откроет рейс из Нур-Султана в Омск с 24 августа". 21 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Direct flight to UAE". scat.kz. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to launch two Kazakhstan routes in May-2021". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Жолаушылар ағыны | Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев халықаралық әуежайы". Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j http://www.kase.kz/files/emitters/ARAL/aralp_2016_rus.pdf Количество обслуженных пассажиров в аэропортах Республики Казахстан за 2015-2016 гг.стр 39
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Аэропорт Астана - показатели динамики развития пассажиропотока за 2006-2011". Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  17. ^ a b c "Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport". Flightradar24. Retrieved 14 October 2019.

External links[]

Media related to Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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