Semey International Airport (Kazakh: Semei Halyqaralyq Äuejaiy) (IATA: PLX, ICAO: UASS), formerly New Semey (Kazakh: Jañasemei) and named after Abai Qunanbaiuly, is an airport in Semey, 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.

Semey International Airport

Semei Halyqaralyq Äuejaiy (Kazakh)
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorJSC "Semey International Airport"
ServesSemey
Location10 km (6.2 mi) SW of Semey
Elevation AMSL232 m / 761 ft
Coordinates50°21′05″N 080°14′04″E / 50.35139°N 80.23444°E / 50.35139; 80.23444
Websiteairportsemey.kz
Maps
PLX/UASS is located in Kazakhstan
PLX/UASS
PLX/UASS
Location in Kazakhstan
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 3,096 10,157 Concrete
Statistics
Passengers49,900
Source: AIP Kazakhstan[1]

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

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AirlinesDestinations
FlyArystan Almaty,[3] Astana,[4] Shymkent
Southern Sky Urzhar

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b AIP Kazakhstan Archived 2013-06-16 at archive.today
  2. ^ "356th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  3. ^ "FlyArystan adds Almaty – Semey service from Dec 2019". Routesonline.
  4. ^ "FlyArystan expands Nur-Sultan operations from Oct 2019". Routesonline.