Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport

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, adobe 8-room station with a small waiting hall, a two-room house for pilots and fuel storage on the airport territory. In December 1931, the first airfield of Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) was built in 1931 on the outskirts of the town and was developed further after World War II. There was a square field for aircraft take-off and landing, adobe 8-room station with a small waiting hall, a two-room house for pilots and fuel storage on the airport territory. The regular air traffic was established between Semipalatinsk and Akmolinsk (day of enterprise establishment).[3]

At the water flood period, the aerodrome was closed. Communication between aerodrome and city was by phone, ferry (there was no bridge over Ishim River), by foot path. In the first few years the air traffic was ad-hoc by character, the timetables used to be as follows "aircraft departure on Monday morning" or "on Wednesday at sunrise". Transportation of passengers, mail and cargo were carried out by aircraft: Kalinin K-4, Kalinin K-5, Polikarpov R-5, Petlyakov Pe-2. The regular flights were established in 1934, with the following routes: 1. Alma-Ata – Karaganda – Akmolinsk – Atbasar – Kostanay – Sverdlovsk. Karaganda – Petropavlovsk – Korgalzhyn – Akmolinsk.[4]

In the beginning of 1946, the first group of Polikarpov Po-2 aircraft arrived to Akmolinsk for regular service. The group belonged to Karaganda aviation enterprise. The following routes were opened for passenger and mail transportation: Akmolinsk – Korgalzhyn – Aksu – Astrakhanka – Balkashino (settlements of Akmolinsk region). Operations division was organized consisting of 2 persons. In 1946 aviation began to render services for the national economy – medical aviation.[5]

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 air group which was based in Karaganda. The airport was equipped with modern equipment (for that days), construction development has started: a Finnish house for radio station, three buildings and a garage were built. The total number of staff amounted to 40 – 50 persons. The airport has begun servicing heavier types of aircraft Lisunov Li-2 in addition to light aircraft. In November 1963, 04-th of November the airport of Tselinograd (formerly known as – Akmolinsk) accepted the first aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 in new terminal, located 18 km far from the city. Aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 in new terminal, located 18 km far from the city. On December, 1963 aircraft Ilyushin Il-18 began to operate on regular flights. The airport terminal was at a building stage, therefore the adapted 2-storeyed building served as air terminal, where the Air traffic control service has been located.[6]

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 has replenished with the first aircraft Antonov An-24. With reception of aircraft Antonov An-24 the volume of passenger, mail, and cargo transportation has sharply increased. People began to fly to many cities of the former Union on own airpark. In 1975, the aircraft Tupolev Tu-154 has firstly landed in the airport. Since this moment regular flight by aircraft Tupolev Tu-154 on Alma-Ata – Tselinograd – Moscow route and back 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; taxiway and apron were also expanded. Replacements of light system and the radio navigating equipment; the VIP building was constructed, the airport complex was reconstructed.[7]

On 2 February 2005, a large-scale international airport reconstruction project has been completed. On 2 February 2005, the grand opening of the new passenger terminal of the airport took place. The terminal area was more than 25 thousand square meters. meters. Number of check-in counters - 24, 2 luggage straps. Currently, the terminal is used to service domestic flights and is called Terminal 2. On 19 November 2015, the grand opening of the business aviation terminal took place on 19 November 2015. The BAT area is 2,400 square meters, the capacity is 200 passengers per hour. 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.[8]

Within the framework of Infrastructure Development Program a new passenger terminal for international flights was built in 2017. 47,000 sq. M. 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.[9]

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), 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.

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

• 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

Media related to Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (official site) (in English, Kazakh, and Russian)
• Current weather for UACC at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for TSE at Aviation Safety Network