Zhukovsky (), formerly (and still occasionally) known as Ramenskoye () is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

, located in

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

, Russia, southeast of central

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, in the city of Zhukovsky, a few kilometers south-east of the closed

Bykovo Airport Bykovo () was a small regional airport serving Moscow, Russia, of which only the runway remains. The airport was located about southeast of the city along the Ryazan highway and railway close to the town of Zhukovsky. It has one 7,250 ft ...

History

ZIA Airport official logo before March 2025 Aeroport ZIA-S2A MSIL1C 20190606T083601 N0207 R064 T37UDB 20190606T104250-Sentinel2B

The airfield began as a

military airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

, originally assigned in 1941 to the newly established Flight Research Institute which served as a

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aircraft testing establishment, with most of the major Russian OKBs having facilities there. The airfield was used as a test site in the 1980s for the Soviet Buran Spacecraft. It was also used by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and cargo carriers. Until June 2006, jet fighters flights for the public and international customers were available at the

Gromov Flight Research Institute The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short (, ) is an important Russian State Research Centre which operates an aircraft test base located in Zhukovsky, 40 km south-east of Moscow. The airfield is also known as Ramenskoye air ...

airfield (a number of two-seater jets like:

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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a Supersonic aircraft, supersonic Interceptor aircraft, interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the Flight airspeed record, fastest military aircraft to enter service ...

Foxbat, for Edge of Space flights,

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Suk ...

Fulcrum, etc.). On March 29, 2011, then Russian prime minister

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

proposed moving all charter and low-cost flights to Ramenskoye Airport (as it was then called) to relieve Moscow's

Sheremetyevo Sheremetyevo International Airport (, , Internal code: ШРМ) is one of four international airports that serve the city of Moscow. It is the busiest airport in Russia and the post-Soviet states, as well as the ninth-busiest airport in Euro ...

, Domodedovo, and Vnukovo airports and reduce the cost of tickets. A new terminal was constructed and the airport scheduled to be opened on 16 March 2016, but was later postponed due to lack of interest and airport certification issues. Originally named the same as the airfield after the nearby city of Ramenskoye, the airport was officially renamed after the city of Zhukovsky, in which it is geographically situated, and opened on 30 May 2016. The opening ceremony was attended by Russian Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

. The airfield is also the location of the biennial

MAKS Airshow MAKS (, ) is an international air show held at Zhukovsky International Airport, the home of the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky, Moscow Oblast, Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow, Russia. The event was organized by the Russian Ministr ...

Transition to civilian airport

The joint venture "Ramport Aero" formed to operate the airport in 2016 included

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Avia Solutions Group Avia Solutions Group is a Lithuanian-owned ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) provider and holding company. Established in 2010 in Vilnius, it moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ireland in 2023, and has additional offices around th ...

(75%) and

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(25%), with plans to expand the airport in three stages. The opening of the new airport was delayed and an aircraft limit to Ramenskoye was in place in 2016, Following the addition of new facilities for commercial operation, the airport opened in May 2016.

Air France-KLM An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

noted in 2016 that it would intend to use Ramenskoye as a diversion airport for

in emergency situations. In October 2018, Avia Solutions Group (ASG), sold its share of the airport management company to the management of Ramport Aero According to a 2018 development plan, there were plans in 2019 to build two passenger terminals (with a capacity of 2 million and 5 million passengers per year), a hotel with 250 rooms, office buildings, open parking for 1,240 parking spaces and covered parking, with a capacity of up to 7,426 cars, as well as the station for aeroexpress. The first phase of the new airport in 2016 would have a capacity of 1.7 million passengers annually, and if realized, could support up to 10.8 million by 2020. The development of the project was expected to improve the transport infrastructure in the Moscow area.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operated regular and scheduled services to and from Zhukovsky as of November 2023:

Cargo

Statistics

Surface transport

Rail

The nearest railway station to Zhukovsky Airport is Otdykh station. There is no direct rail connection between Moscow and the airport. Express electric train "Sputnik" from Moscow Kazansky railway station to Otdykh station with two stops. There are 26 services from 7:00 to 23:00 on weekdays at irregular intervals, no services at weekends. Travel time: 37 minutes. Passengers can also take an ordinary suburban train along Ryazanskiy direction to Otdykh station. Buses depart from Otdykh railway station to Zhukovsky airport. Departure 8 minutes after Sputnik arrival. Travel time: 20 minutes. From the Otdykh railway station, there are buses to the airport, interval: 30 minutes or by bus routes 2, 6 to the stop "Pereezd".

Bus

A direct route from

Kotelniki Kotelniki () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located southeast of the center of Moscow. Population: History The village of Kotelniki was first mentioned in the 17th century and belonged to Golits ...

station of the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...

to Zhukovsky International Airport is bus No. 441 "Kotelniki metro station" - "Airport Zhukovsky". The interval varies starting from 12 minutes depending on traffic, travel time 64 minutes.

Accidents and incidents

* On 15 August 2019, Ural Airlines Flight 178, an

Airbus A321 The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was ...

registered as VQ-BOZ, was scheduled to fly from Zhukovsky Airport to

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

, with 226 passengers and 7 crew on board. The aircraft suffered a

bird strike A bird strike (sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)) is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft). The term ...

shortly after takeoff and made an emergency landing in a cornfield less than from the runway with its landing gear up. Although 74 passengers sought medical treatment, only one major injury occurred, and all passengers survived.

References

External links

*
Airport parameters
{{authority control Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Moscow Oblast Airports established in 2016 Rostec Companies based in Moscow Oblast 2016 establishments in Russia