Published: 4/24/1998

24th April 1998 - Issue 57 Sergei Sutulov, the general director of the Sheremetievo Airport joint-stock company, said on 9 April that the annual rise in the passenger traffic via Sheremetievo airport of Moscow in the last three years stood at 7%. According to his data, in 1995, 1996 and 1997 the airport served 8.5m, 9.5m and 10.2m passengers, respectively. Sutulov believes that in the foreseeable future, Sheremetievo will remain the largest airport in the CIS, in terms of volume of air traffic. In 1994, the Government took the decision to separate the unitary aviation complex in Sheremetievo into Aeroflot-Russian International Airlines and Sheremetievo airport. Two years later another governmental decree was issued, ordering to turn the airport into a joint stock company, with 100% of shares in state possession. As of today, Sheremetievo Airport has two terminals, known as Sheremetievo-1 and -2, which serve roughly equal passenger flows. The airport occupies 960 hectares. The balance value of its assets exceeds Rbs2bn (at 1998 prices). According to Sutulov, western banks estimate the real market value of the assets at more than $750m. The airport has a 7000-strong work-force. In 1997, its volume of sales exceeded Rbs1 trillion. On-ground services were provided for 14 foreign airlines, including Lufthansa, British Airways and Olympic Airways. In all, 50 foreign and 73 Russian operators made landings at Sheremetievo in 1997. Last year the traffic using the airport,was 10.2m passengers, 74,900 tonnes of cargo and baggage, and 4,300 tonnes of mail. The respective rise over the previous year was 17.6%, 4% and 19%, correspondingly. The number of departures rose by 12.9%. In 1997 Sheremetievo completed the construction of the second runway, which provides ICAO Category III landings. The completion of this has considerably improved the safety of flight operations and the overall capacity of the airport. The new runway allows 36 take-offs and landings per hour, allowing the airport to serve 6-7 million departing passengers annually. Sheremetievo is now working on a project on modernisation of Terminal 2, worth $15m. It is aimed at increasing the peak capacity of the terminal from 2,500 passengers per hour to 3,500. Further plans call for the construction of the third runway and a new terminal, Sheremetievo-3. Sutulov believes that realisation of these projects will allow Sheremetievo to become a capacious and convenient hub, and transfer centre for Russian and foreign airlines. (VK) (AP498.1)  

Article ID: 148