Development of Simferopol International Airport
DEVELOPMENT OF SIMFEROPOL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
In 2016, at the Yalta International Economic Forum, an investment agreement was signed on the construction of a modern airport complex at Simferopol Airport, the key element of which was a new passenger terminal.
Just 22 months later, an ultramodern terminal, unique in its architecture, with an area of 78 thousand square meters, and about a dozen office buildings near it, was erected in an open field at the expense of private investors.
The new airport complex is built on the principles of public and private partnership.
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The new passenger terminal at Simferopol Airport is designed to serve 6.5 million people per year. It is made following the architectural design resembling a sea wave created by Samoo Architects & Engineers, a South Korean company.
To create a unique silhouette of the terminal, more than 5,700 tons of metal structures were installed and 136 unique curved columns reaching up to 35 meters in height were erected. The glazing of the new terminal is as unique as the entire building. In total, 130 stained glass windows consisting of 9 thousand unique double-glazed windows made by St. Petersburg company were installed.
The feature of the airport is the outdoor terrace on the fourth floor of the building overlooking the Chatyr-Dag Mountain. There is a "green wall" of about 1,600 sq. meters on the ground floor of the airport complex. The "Green Wall" consists of natural plants and artificial parts. The height of the natural plants part is 5 meters, the artificial part is 10 meters, and the total length is 110 meters. The structure is the largest plant wall in Europe placed inside a building.
The airport complex is equipped with an automated building management system. The system allows for operational monitoring, remote control and management of all engineering equipment of the terminal and other buildings of the complex from a single dispatch center. The terminal has 28 elevators, 16 escalators, and 8 jet bridges.
All operational processes at Simferopol Airport are digitized and strictly time-controlled. Thanks to the introduction of new approaches, it was possible to achieve a significant reduction in the time for passengers to pass entrance and preflight inspections. Check-in for flights is now much faster and more comfortable.
Baggage dispensing and loading also accelerated by half, as compared to the old terminals. According to the airport regulations, baggage dispensing shall start not later than 15 minutes upon the aircraft arrival. All baggage is serviced by the complex fully designed and manufactured in Russia, for the first time in Russian history.
The baggage handling system includes 55 check-in counters, 5 baggage carousels for baggage dispensing, equipment for its picking and handling area. The capacity of the system is 4,800 pieces of baggage per hour, which allows to simultaneously load up to 25 flights and fully meet the needs of Simferopol Airport, even in the case of expanding the airport complex in the future.
Simferopol Airport is one of the leaders in Russia not only in terms of the speed of passenger service, but also in terms of aircraft service. Thanks to the built-in operational processes, the most popular narrow-body aircraft are fully serviced here in just 45 minutes, wide-body Boeing 747 and 777 – in 85 minutes, while small Bombardier CRJ200 are serviced in just 20 minutes. During this time, airport staff manage to unload and load luggage, clean and refuel the plane, and begin towing it for a new flight.
Fast aircraft maintenance allows the aircraft to spend less time on the ground, which means that it makes flights to Simferopol Airport even more profitable and attractive for airlines.
