Aktau International Airport

For the rugby league player named Uate, see Akuila Uate.

Aktau International Airport Halyqaralyq Aqtau Äuejaiy
IATA: SCO ICAO: UATE
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	JSC "Aktau International Airport"
Serves	Aktau
Location	Aktau, Kazakhstan
Opened	1983 (1983)
Focus city for	SCAT Airlines
Time zone	AQTT (UTC+05:00)
Elevation AMSL	22 m / 72 ft
Coordinates	43°51′36″N 051°05′31″E
Website	www.aktau-airport.kz
Map
SCO/UATE Location in Kazakhstan SCO/UATE SCO/UATE (West and Central Asia) SCO/UATE SCO/UATE (North Atlantic)
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12/30 3,052 10,013 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 1,023,900
Source: AIP Kazakhstan

Aktau International Airport (IATA: SCO, ICAO: UATE) (Kazakh: Halyqaralyq Aqtau Äuejaiy), formerly Shevchenko-Central, is an international airport in Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan. It is the primary international airport serving Aktau. The airport is the eighth-busiest international air passenger gateway into Central Asia, the 50th-busiest airport in the Post-Soviet states, the fourth-busiest airport in Kazakhstan.

Aktau International Airport is located 21 km (13 mi) northwest of the city of Aktau. The airport features one passenger terminal and one runway. It serves as a focus city for SCAT Airlines. The airport is served year-round by Aeroflot, Air Astana, SCAT Airlines, Qazaq Air and on a seasonal basis by Belavia and Sunday Airlines.

The facility opened in 1983 (1983) as Shevchenko-Central and was commonly known as Shevchenko Airport (the airport's current IATA code, SCO, is derived from the city's previous name of Shevchenko).

Overview

In November 1996 the joint stock company Aktau International Airport was established. The development of the oil industry in the Caspian region required an increase in freight volumes and a rapid delivery of necessary equipment for the oil industry. This, in turn, led to the need for reconstruction of the airfield and an increase in passenger capacity at the terminal.

Usage

With 1 million passengers passing through in 2018, the airport was the third busiest in Kazakhstan, after Almaty Airport and Astana Airport, and was the 50th-busiest airport in the Post-Soviet states.

Operations

Aktau International Airport is used by 6 airlines flying to 14 destinations in 4 countries. The airport is the primary hub of SCAT Airlines. It has one passenger terminal. In 2018, it served 1 023 900 passengers, making it the third-busiest airport in Kazakhstan. The busiest single destination in passenger numbers is Atyrau. It has one runway designated 12/30 with an asphalt/concrete surface measuring 3,050 m × 60 m (10,007 ft × 197 ft). The airport is able to accommodate jets the size of the AN-124, Boeing 747, Il-76 and lighter, as well as helicopters of all types. However, smaller jets like the Airbus A319, Boeing 737 and CRJ-200 are more commonly seen there.

In 2007, the airport was given a concession period of 30 years to the ATM Group. The contract includes construction of a new passenger terminal. The new terminal was completed in 2009. The capacity was 450 passengers per hour and the total area of 13,400 m² (144,000 sq ft), including the area occupied by the VIP and CIP halls.

The terminal is equipped with electronic and electromechanical systems. These include passenger telescopic ladders, racks of electronic registration, HVAC (heating and cooling system), FIDS (Alert System departures on the electronic scoreboard), X-ray scanners, CCTV, lifts and escalators.

SCAT Airlines is based in Aktau and operates flights to Baku, Tbilisi, Moscow and various other Russian cities. Air Astana operates daily flights to Atyrau, Almaty and Nur-Sultan. There are also flights operated by Aeroflot to Moscow.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Aktau:

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroflot	Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Air Astana	Almaty, Atyrau, London–Heathrow, Nur-Sultan
FlyArystan	Aktobe, Almaty, Atyrau, Baku, Karagandy, Kutaisi, Nur-Sultan, Oral, Shymkent, Yerevan, Istanbul Seasonal: Antalya, Medina
Kish Air	Seasonal: Gorgan
Qazaq Air	Atyrau
Red Wings Airlines	Moscow–Zhukovsky, Yekaterinburg
Rossiya Airlines	Sochi
SCAT Airlines	Aktobe, Almaty, Astrakhan, Atyrau, Baku, Istanbul, Kokshetau, Krasnodar, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, Moscow–Vnukovo, Nukus, Nur-Sultan, Oral, Ras Al Khaimah, Saint Petersburg, Shymkent, Tbilisi, Turkistan, Urgench, Yerevan Seasonal: Batumi
Sunday Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Sharm El Sheikh
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul
Uzbekistan Airways	Nukus, Urgench

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Silk Way Airlines	Atyrau, Baku

Statistics

Passenger figures

Annual passenger traffic at SCO airport. See Wikidata query.

Year	Passengers	Change on previous year
2008	474,000	024.9 %
2009	450,000	0 5,1 %
2010	585,000	0 30%
2011	623,000	0 6,5 %
2012	708,143	0 13,7 %
2013	776,431	0 9,6 %
2014	813,746	0 4,8 %
2015	845,710	0 3,9 %
2016	865,774	0 2,4 %
2017	1,072,400	0 23,9 %
2018	1,023,900	0 4,5 %
2019	996,291	0 2,7 %
2020	688,002	0 30,9 %
2021	1,303,560	0 89,5 %

See also

• Transport in Kazakhstan
• List of airports in Kazakhstan
• List of the busiest airports in the former USSR