Meeting on the development of airfield and airport infrastructure
Meeting on the development of airfield and airport infrastructure
Meeting on the development of airfield and airport infrastructure
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Report by Transport Minister Roman Starovoit
Excerpts from the transcript:
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
The President has set a goal to modernise the infrastructure of at least 75 airports across Russia by 2030. As we inaugurate this new terminal today, we will take a closer look at the progress being made toward achieving this objective.
Modern, well-equipped, and accessible airports are essential for improving the connectivity of our vast country, making air travel more available to citizens, and driving the economic development of Russia’s regions. Last year saw the completion of runway upgrades in Kemerovo and Tomsk, the opening of seven new airport terminals, and, since the beginning of this year, three more terminals have been launched in Novokuznetsk, Tyumen, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
The Government places particular emphasis on this area. During previous working visits, I personally observed the construction progress at the Magadan airport and reviewed development plans in Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, and Gorno-Altaisk.
We have just inspected the new terminal at the international airport in Mineralnye Vody. It will soon begin welcoming passengers, offering a modern level of comfort for both local residents and visitors to the region. This is especially important given that, in recent years, passenger traffic at this airport has nearly tripled.
Domestic tourism is on the rise, and more people are choosing the North Caucasus as a vacation destination. Mineralnye Vody, along with nearby cities such as Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki, and Kislovodsk, have long been popular with travellers. It is essential that we continue to improve the convenience and accessibility of such key tourist destinations.
The work is also going on in other Russian regions, above all under the national project Efficient Transport System. It includes a separate federal project – Development of a Basic Airfields Network. It is intended to build and renovate airfields all over the country. The necessary funds for its implementation have been earmarked in the federal budget, including 250 billion roubles, which have been additionally allocated for such purposes by presidential instruction.
The Air Transport Infrastructure Development Fund has been set up to carry out major repairs. Its task is to bring more than 50 airfields in the country up to standard within six years.
There are also plans to expand existing ports, which is necessary, among other things, due to the growing tourist, economic and investment attractiveness of the regions.
The tasks that we are facing are very large in scale. No doubt that private business should be attracted to their solution. Business people will find it profitable to invest in such high-tech and demanded initiatives.
The terminal where we are holding our meeting was also built primarily with extra-budgetary funds, sources and financial support from VEB.RF using the Project Finance Factory mechanism.
This is an example of a responsible attitude of entrepreneurs to the country development. And I hope that we will see more such examples.
Dear colleagues, I want to draw your attention to another important circumstance. It is with airports that travellers begin to get acquainted with the city, region and the country they are visiting. And when people get to know our country, of course, everything will start with modern, comfortable airports.
It is important that they should be modern complexes with convenient services, logistics, comfortable lounges, and opportunities to get luggage quickly. All this should be taken into account in designing such facilities, which, by the way, has been done, as an example, here, in this complex.
Let us begin the meeting. I give the floor to Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit. Please.
Roman Starovoit: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.
In the aviation sector, our primary benchmark through 2030 is the target set by the Presidential executive order – to increase the population’s air mobility by 50 percent. In 2024, Russian airlines transported 111.7 million passengers, marking a 6 percent increase compared to the previous year. Notably, international air traffic grew by 20 percent.
The policy of subsidising domestic air travel also continued in 2024, with more than 5.3 million passengers benefiting from this support.
As part of the two existing subsidy programmes for the North Caucasus Federal District, 864 million roubles were allocated in 2024. More than 470,000 passengers used these programmes, with 10 airlines operating flights on 53 routes.
The budget for 2025 allocates 707 million roubles to continue these subsidy programmes for the North Caucasus Federal District. The plan is to transport at least 327,000 passengers under the programme next year.
The figures presented clearly demonstrate that our citizens are actively travelling – just as you noted in your opening remarks – and that airlines are effectively meeting the rising demand for air transportation.
Currently, there are 225 operational airfields across Russia, and this number is expected to increase to 242 by 2030. At the same time, 131 airfields require new construction, reconstruction, or major renovations.
Using resources from the Infrastructure Development Fund, established last year by presidential instructions, major repairs are planned for at least 53 airfields by 2030, as was also highlighted in your opening remarks. To date, the fund has received 6.6 billion roubles, and the Federal Agency for Air Transport has already initiated the development of the necessary design documentation.
To support the goal of increasing air mobility, the federal project Development of a Basic Airfields Network was launched last year as part of the national project Efficient Transport System. It includes a separate federal project – Development of a Basic Airfields Network
In line with the implementation of the President’s Address to the Federal Assembly, the plan through 2030 includes the modernisation of airfield infrastructure at no fewer than 75 airports. To make this possible, the Government has allocated an additional 250 billion roubles from the federal budget. Mr Mishustin, thank you for your support in making this decision.
The upgrade of airports will improve connectivity across Russian regions, thereby enhancing their investment appeal and creating new jobs. This should have an overall positive impact, promoting Russia’s economic growth and social progress.
In 2024, several projects were completed to modernise the airfield infrastructure at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kirov, and Ust-Nera airports. New runways became operational at the airports of Tomsk and Kemerovo.
In addition, seven airport complexes were built with private funds and began operation in Tomsk, Magadan, Ulan-Ude, Cheboksary, Voronezh, Stavropol, and Khabarovsk.
In 2025, the plan is to complete the upgrade of the airfields in Tomsk and Bratsk, as well as the first stage of modernising Arkhangelsk airport.
In January 2025, three new terminals became operational in Novokuznetsk, Tyumen, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This year, it is planned to open new complexes of the airports of Blagoveshchensk, Barnaul and Orenburg.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport is working to optimise regulatory requirements for the design, construction and operation of airports as part of the government’s Guillotine 2.0 priority project. Under this project, we make amendments to relevant regulatory acts and standards concerning the scope of work on the maintenance and overhaul of the airfield pavement, optimising the procedure for concluding lease agreements, reducing mandatory requirements for building infrastructure and reducing the costs of launching new air transport facilities.
In addition to the Mineralnye Vody airport, the federal project Development of a Basic Airfields Network envisions modernising the airfield infrastructure in Grozny, Makhachkala, Stavropol and Nalchik in the North Caucasus Federal District. The total amount of funding for improving air transport facilities in this federal district until 2030 from all sources will be 35.7 billion roubles.
We plan to complete the work on the Grozny airport in Chechnya, which envisions upgrading the airfield and airport infrastructure, and at the Uytash airport in Makhachkala in 2026–2027.
Mineralnye Vody International Airport, where we are now, is the largest air hub in the North Caucasus Federal District. The new air terminal for domestic airlines will provide a higher level of services to passengers and airlines, meeting the highest international standards.
Starting from 2025, passenger traffic at Mineralnye Vody Airport is projected to grow annually, reaching about 6.5 million passengers per year by 2030, according to our estimates. The construction of the new terminal in Mineralnye Vody is a stage in a larger upgrade project. The Ministry of Transport and the Federal Air Transport Agency also plan to modernise its airfield infrastructure under a concession agreement until 2028.
