According to the results of the first nine months 2012 Novosibirsk International Airport Tolmachevo handled 2,473,926 passengers, a 19,8% increase over last year.
NOVOSIBIRSK- The number of passengers totaled 1,543,083 people (+16,4%) on domestic flights and 930,843 (+25,8%) on international flights. In September 2012, passenger traffic at the airport increased by 14,2% compared to the same period of last year and reached 311 720 people. 189 387 passengers (+9,9%) travellerd on domestic flights, while 122,323 passengers were recorded on international flights (+21,5%).
Since the beginning of the year, the airport experiences a flow of new airlines serving Asia. On June 1, Azerbaijan airlines (AZAL) began to operate weekly direct flights to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. S7 Airlines is a major player at the airport, connecting Novosibirsk to the rest of Asia. The Russian carrier, a member of Oneworld global alliance, flies up to four times a week to Bangkok, competing this winter with the other Russian airline Transaero on the route to Thailand.
Earlier in October, S7 began also to offer twice-weekly services to Hong Kong followed on October 30 by a weekly service to Fergana, its third destination in Uzbekistan after Tashkent and Namangan. It was then followed on November 3 by a weekly service to Tajikistan on the route Novosibirsk-Kulob.
The Novosibirsk Airport (Tolmachevo) is the largest air hub East of the Urals on major transit routes between Europe and Asia. The capacity on domestic flights reaches 1 800 passengers per hour and while it reaches 750 passengers per hour on international flights. The airport has two runways to serve its growing traffic.
According to its business plan in 2012, Novosibirk International Airport plans to serve 3.15 million passengers up by 14% over 2011 and to handle more than 26,000 tons of cargo and mail up by 28% over 2011.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
