# Tolmachevo Airport

Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport (Russian: Аэропо́рт Толмачёво) (IATA: OVB, ICAO: UNNT) is an international airport situated in the town of Ob, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of the center of Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.

## Overview

There are two (3,600 metres (11,800 ft) and 3,605 metres (11,827 ft)) active runways in Tolmachevo Airport, along with one large passenger terminal with two connected sections (Section A for domestic flights (25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft), 18 check-in desks, 2 jet bridges, capacity 1,800 passengers/hour, and Section B for international flights (27,000 square metres (290,000 sq ft), 14 check-in desks, 3 jet bridges, capacity 1,300 passengers/hour), 2 cargo terminals and 61 aircraft stands. Runway 16 is equipped with an ILS CAT II, which enables aircraft operations in low ceiling (30 metres) and visibility (350 metres).
The airport is situated in the middle of the route from some important East-Asian cities (e.g. Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, etc.) to Europe which makes it attractive for cargo airlines to use it for refueling stops. It serves also as a diversion airport on Polar route 1.
Tolmachevo is the busiest airport in Siberia and the sixth-busiest airport in Russia. It is also the busiest regional transit airport in Russia after Moscow MOW. In 2020, the airport served 4,634,166 passengers (-31.3%) and handled 34,158 tons of cargo (+0.05%). Detailed data for years 2003–2020 is in the Traffic Statistics section below. As of 2024 it is the 6th busiest airport in Russia as well as the 7th busiest in the Post-Soviet states.
The Tolmachevo Airport is operated by Novaport since 2011.

## History

Operations began on July 12, 1957, with the first passenger flight of a Tupolev Tu-104 from Novosibirsk to Moscow. The airport was owned by United Tolmachevo Aviation Enterprise and the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the USSR until 1992. The airport then became a joint stock company in 1995, with 51% owned by the state. The domestic terminal was completely renovated in 2006. Tolmachevo Airport is also the first Russian airport to receive an ISO 9002-96 certificate. On November 29, 2012, for the first time in its history, the airport received its three-millionth annual passenger. During 2014-2015, the former international terminal was enlarged and merged with the domestic terminal which doubled its passenger capacity. The airport celebrated its four-millionth annual passenger on December 21, 2016. In the last hours of 2017, another milestone was reached: on December 31, 2017, the airport handled its five-millionth annual passenger. On December 18, 2019, the airport celebrated its first 6.5-millionth annual passenger.
Plans for its further development include construction of a new rapid-exit taxiway and 4 stands for wide-body aircraft, On 15 September 2020 the airport commenced construction works of the new terminal. Work is being conducted by contractor Ant Yapı (Turkey). Construction of the 56,000 square meters terminal will be completed in the third quarter of 2022. Phase two work will be completed by 2025. The total area of the airport terminal will be more than 100,000 square meters.
The airport is also home to the 337th Independent Helicopter Regiment (previously called the 562nd Air Base (Army Aviation)) flying Mil Mi-24P's and Mil Mi-8AMTSh-V's and the Composite Aviation Squadron, 32nd Independent Composite Transport Aviation Regiment, both as part of the 14th Air and Air Defence Forces Army.

## Accidents and incidents

* On 13 November 2020, an Antonov An-124 Ruslan aircraft operating Volga-Dnepr Airlines Flight 4066 suffered an uncontained engine failure on departure and was severely damaged. On landing back at Tolmachevo, the aircraft overran the runway and was further damaged when its nosewheels collapsed. All fourteen people on board survived.

## Airlines and destinations
### Passenger

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aeroflot | Bangkok–Suvarnahumi, Khabarovsk, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Phuket, Saint Petersburg, Sanya Seasonal: Antalya, Sochi |
| Alrosa | Mirny, Moscow–Vnukovo, Udachny Seasonal: Sochi |
| Aurora | Khabarovsk |
| Avia Traffic Company | Bishkek, Osh |
| Azerbaijan Airlines | Baku |
| Azur Air | Seasonal charter: Colombo–Bandaranaike, Hurghada, Nha Trang (begins 22 March 2025), Pattaya, Phuket |
| Centrum Air | Tashkent (begins 1 April 2025) |
| Flydubai | Dubai–International |
| FlyOne Armenia | Yerevan (begins 31 March 2025) |
| Georgian Airways | Tbilisi |
| Ikar | Seasonal charter: Phuket, Sochi |
| IrAero | Baku, Irkutsk, Kyzyl, Talakan |
| Myanmar Airways International | Mandalay, Yangon |
| NordStar | Norilsk |
| Nordwind Airlines | Seasonal: Saint Petersburg, Sochi |
| Pobeda | Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Moscow–Vnukovo Seasonal: Sochi |
| Qazaq Air | Astana, Öskemen |
| Red Wings Airlines | Seasonal charter: Hambantota–Mattala, Phuket, |
| Rossiya Airlines | Krasnoyarsk–International, Saint Petersburg |
| RusLine | Moscow-Vnukovo |
| S7 Airlines | Abakan, Almaty, Antalya, Astana, Baku, Bangkok–Suvarnahumi, Barnaul, Beijing–Daxing, Bishkek, Blagoveshchensk, Bratsk, Chelyabinsk, Chita, Dubai–Al Maktoum, Dubai–International, Dushanbe, Fergana, Gorno-Altaysk, Irkutsk, Istanbul, Izhevsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Kemerovo, Khabarovsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Khujand, Krasnoyarsk–International, Kyzyl, Magadan, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, Mirny, Moscow–Domodedovo, Nadym, Neryungri, Nizhnevartovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Norilsk, Novokuznetsk, Novy Urengoy, Noyabrsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Osh, Öskemen, Perm, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Pevek, Saint Petersburg, Salekhard (begins 1 April 2025), Samara, Samarqand, Saratov, Sochi, Surgut, Şymkent (resumes 5 June 2025), Talakan, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Ulan-Ude, Ulyanovsk–Baratayevka, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Yakutsk, Yekaterinburg, Yerevan, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Seasonal: Tamchy-Issyk-Kul |
| SCAT Airlines | Seasonal charter: Phu Quoc, Sihanoukville, Taraz |
| Smartavia | Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg Seasonal: Sochi |
| Somon Air | Dushanbe |
| Utair | Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk–International, Moscow–Vnukovo, Surgut |
| UVT Aero | Tobolsk, Yekaterinburg |
| Uzbekistan Airways | Fergana, Tashkent |
| Yakutia Airlines | Moscow–Vnukovo, Neryungri, Yakutsk |
| Yamal Airlines | Novy Urengoy, Salekhard |

### Cargo

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aviastar-TU | Hangzhou |
| Russian Post | Harbin, Zhengzhou |

## Statistics

(*)Preliminary Data. Source: Tolmachevo media centre
Busiest domestic routes from Tolmachevo Int. Airport (2013) :
| Rank | City | Passengers | Growth 2013/2012 |
| 1 | Moscow | 1,073,265 | 05% |
| 2 | Saint Petersburg | 0152,068 | 15% |
| 3 | Khabarovsk | 0122,150 | 24% |
| 4 | Vladivostok | 0095,864 | 15% |
| 5 | Yakutsk | 0069,555 | 11% |
| 6 | Irkutsk | 0066,751 | 69% |
| 7 | Yekaterinburg | 0044,091 | 17% |
| 8 | Mirny | 0042,246 | 04% |
| 9 | Surgut | 0038,006 | 14% |
| 10 | Nizhnevartovsk | 0035,465 | 18% |
Busiest international routes from Tolmachevo Int. Airport (2013) :
| Rank | City | Country | Passengers | Growth 2013/2012 |
| 1 | Bangkok | Thailand | 215,408 | 25% |
| 2 | Antalya | Turkey | 143,906 | 13% |
| 3 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 100,635 | 22% |
| 4 | Phuket | Thailand | 093,134 | 49% |
| 5 | Osh | Kyrgyzstan | 080,041 | 08% |
| 6 | Beijing | China | 077,026 | 14% |
| 7 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates | 050,564 | 36% |
| 8 | Khujand | Tajikistan | 047,645 | 13% |
| 9 | Ürümqi | China | 041,845 | 06% |
| 10 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 041,470 | 04% |

## Ground transportation

Public transportation to the city is provided by a number of bus routes, as well as by private and municipal taxis. Shuttle bus service runs also between the airport and the Ob railway station at the Trans-Siberian Railway - a stop for Elektrichka local commuter trains and some long-distance trains in the direction of Omsk.
Since 1 June 2024 direct buses to Kuzbas' Mezhdurechensk with additional stops in Myski, Novokuznetsk, Belovo and Leninsk-Kuznetsky are available on daily basis.