Today the city of Smolensk has two airports.
Airport in Smolensk "Yuzhny"
The airport was founded at the beginning of the century. Today the airfield is used as a sports airfield. In 2011, the Yuzhny airport was transferred for permanent use to the Smolensk branch of DOSAAF Russia. Its main operator and operator is the Polet Smolensk Aviation Club. In addition, the regional enterprise "Smolenskaerotrans" has received a permanent location here. Initially, the Yuzhny airport in Smolensk received Yak-40, An-24 and lighter aircraft with a takeoff weight of up to 24 tons. The L-410 planes operated regular flights from here to Bryansk, Saratov, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk and other cities of the Soviet Union. But with the collapse of the USSR, air transportation became unprofitable, and the airline ceased flights, and was subsequently disbanded.
Airfield in Smolensk "Severny"
Located 3 kilometers north of the Smolensk railway station. The runway of the airline has a length of 2.5 kilometers and is capable of accommodating Il-76, Tu-154 aircraft, as well as lighter aircraft and helicopters of all types. This airfield is co-based. In addition to subdivisions of the Russian Air Force, an experimental test brigade of the Smolensk Aviation Plant is stationed here. At the end of the first decade, with special permission from the Federal Air Transport Agency, Severny Airport was periodically used to receive civil aircraft.
The airport was founded in 1920 and was used as a military airfield until 2012. In early 2012, the airline was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Smolensk administration. A large-scale reconstruction of the airport is currently underway. In the near future, the company plans to obtain international status.
In April 2010, the airport survived the crash of the TU-154M airplane, on board which the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczynski and his wife were present. All passengers on board and crew members were killed. The tragedy was caused by unfavorable meteorological conditions and erroneous actions of the crew, which at that moment was under psychological pressure. The Polish side did not agree with such conclusions of the IAC, considering such a report prepared by the Russian side.
