Shirak Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Shirak Airport
nativename-a = Շիրակ Օդակայան


caption = Shirak Airport during the Soviet Union days.
IATA = LWN
ICAO = UDSG
type = Public
owner = General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia
operator = Armenia International Airports CJSC, owned by Corporation America
city-served = Gyumri
location = Gyumri, Shirak, Armenia
elevation-f = 5000
elevation-m = 1524
coordinates = coord|40|45|01|N|43|51|33|E|type:airport|display=inline
website =
r1-number = 02/20
r1-length-f = 10,564
r1-length-m = 3,220
r1-surface = Asphalt
footnotes =

Shirak Airport Airport codes|LWN|UDSG is an international airport serving Gyumri and the province of Shirak. It is located about 5 km from the center of Gyumri. The airport was inaugurated in 1961, and is the second largest airport in the country, after Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport. At present, the airport has scheduled flights to Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Sochi.

At the start of 2006, Armenia felt the importance of having a second international airport, when adverse weather conditions meant that many flights had to be diverted from Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport into Gyumri’s Shirak Airport. New traffic control equipment has now been put into operation at the airport, which allows identification of planes within a 400 km radius. The equipment is a newly developed system and according to the Czech company that implemented it, this is the first time it has been installed at an airport in a mountainous location, and the experience from it’s installation will serve as a model for its future installation in other regions.

New ownership

On August 3, 2007, the government of Armenia announced that it had agreed to include the management of operations at Armenia's second largest airport (Shirak) in the 30-year concession agreement that it signed with Armenia International Airports CJSC in December 2001 to take over operations at Zvartnots International Airport. Armenia International Airports CJSC is owned by Corporacion America, an Argentine company which operates several airports across South America, which is owned in turn by Eduardo Eurnekian. According to Artem Movsisian, head of the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, Corporacion America will have to turn the airport in Gyumri into a first-class airport. He also said the company has pledged to invest $10 million this year to start modernization program and within the upcoming years it will invest more to make the airport comply with international standards. Among other commitments is to provide free landing and take-off services to the Armenian Military.

Shirak Airport was closed for renovations from June 20th til October 20, 2007, during which time the runway was repaved and work was done on the airport lighting and the main terminal.

tatistics

Airlines and destinations

* Aeroflot-Don (Adler-Sochi, Rostov-on-Don)
* S7 Airlines (Moscow-Domodedovo)
* Samara Airlines (Krasnodar)

ee also

* Zvartnots International Airport
* List of airports in Armenia
* Transport in Armenia

References

External links

* [http://www.aviation.am/eng/gorc/aeroport.htm General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia - Airport Information] en icon
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* [http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg198220.html Groong News Article]