VIP terminals of Russia: where business aviation is handled

The catalogue holds 30 objects in the region: business aviation terminals, FBOs and VIP lounges in 24 cities. Below are the ones that set the level of service in the region, and a short map of the rest.

Vnukovo-3 Business Aviation Centre

Moscow, Russia · Vnukovo (VKO) · standalone complex

Photo: Papas Dos from Moscow, Russia, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest business aviation centre in Russia and Eastern Europe, occupying the western part of the Vnukovo airfield. The complex comprises an international terminal of 7 000 m² (2006, up to 120 passengers an hour, five meeting rooms, duty free, a medical post, crew lounges), a domestic terminal of 480 m² (2000) and the Kosmos terminal of RSC Energia for VIP charters. The apron and hangar complex are sized to hold more than 250 aircraft at once. The operator, Vipport, is the only FBO in Russia with an IS-BAH Stage 2 certificate. The bulk of business aviation movements in the Moscow hub pass through Vnukovo-3.

Sheremetyevo Terminal A

Moscow, Russia · Sheremetyevo (SVO) · standalone complex

A business aviation terminal in the north-eastern part of Sheremetyevo, opened in 2012. A two-storey building of glass and metal: a hall with a marble floor, VIP rooms, a conference room and the Galereya restaurant; border and customs clearance is carried out on site. The terminal has its own apron, hangar complex and helipad; the walk from the lounge to the aircraft takes about two minutes, and some ten minutes pass between the steps coming up and take-off. The operator A-Group has worked in the business aviation market for more than 20 years and holds six hangars for over 30 aircraft across two cities.

Ostafyevo International Business Aviation Airport

Moscow, Russia · Ostafyevo (OSF) · standalone complex

Photo: Anton Obolenski, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

An international business aviation airport in New Moscow, 14 km south of the MKAD ring road; the base airport of Gazpromavia and an aerodrome shared with the Ministry of Defence. Civil flights have operated since 2000 and international ones since 2007, and the airport works round the clock. The glass passenger terminal handles up to 70 passengers an hour on domestic and up to 40 on international services, and is equipped with business lounges and sound-insulated meeting rooms. The apron has 26 open stands and two heated hangars are in operation; fixed-wing aircraft up to Boeing 737-700 and Global Express classes are accepted, along with helicopters of all types.

Heliport Moscow

Moscow, Russia · Heliport Moscow helicopter centre (Myakinino) · standalone complex

A helicopter centre in the Myakinino floodplain by the MKAD (1A Myakininskoye Shosse, off the Novorizhskoye highway), the flagship site of the Heliports of Russia network. It works as a passenger helicopter terminal: receiving and dispatching flights, booking flights, basing private and corporate helicopters, all-season hangar storage and maintenance. The complex is stated to be the largest in Europe and is sized to base more than 200 helicopters. An aviation training centre operates on site (ATC certificate No. 393), and Robinson, Bell and Airbus Helicopters aircraft are sold there; the network has branches in Istra, Kaluga and Novosibirsk.

Pulkovo-3 Business Aviation Centre

St Petersburg, Russia · Pulkovo (LED) · standalone complex

Photo: Kayhan ERTUGRUL, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The first business aviation centre in Russia's north-west, operating since 2013. The complex of about 100 000 m² includes a passenger terminal of 4 000 m² with capacity for up to 1 500 passengers a day, apron No. 6 of over 50 000 m² for more than 30 aircraft, and a hangar of three sections of 2 500 m² each (a section holds a Boeing 737-900 or five Challenger 605s). The terminal has check-in desks, waiting lounges, meeting rooms and a bar; pre-flight formalities, including border control on international flights, are carried out on site. It stands on the Pulkovskoye highway, 20 minutes from the city centre.

Koltsovo Airport business aviation terminal

Yekaterinburg, Russia · Koltsovo International Airport (SVX) · standalone building

Photo: Svetlov Artem, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The terminal occupies the historic "building with the spire", Koltsovo's first air terminal, converted for business aviation in 2009. Inside are waiting lounges, offices and conference rooms seating from 4 to 30 people, with coffee breaks, business lunches and receptions arranged. The terminal handles business aviation flights; passengers on scheduled services may also use it irrespective of ticket class.

Kazan Airport Terminal 2 (VIP terminal, business aviation)

Kazan, Russia · Kazan International Airport (KZN) · standalone building

Photo: Юкатан, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Terminal 2 was built in 2005 for the millennium of Kazan and stands apart from passenger terminals 1 and 1A. The building is used to handle VIP passengers and business aviation flights: inside are an enhanced-comfort waiting lounge, separate check-in desks and office equipment for working needs. Official delegations and business flights pass through the terminal; border and customs formalities are carried out on an individual basis.

Krasnodar Airport VIP terminal (Pashkovsky)

Krasnodar, Russia · Krasnodar International Airport (Pashkovsky) (KRR) · standalone building

Photo: Obakeneko, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

The VIP terminal is a free-standing building to the right of the international terminal, on a fenced site with its own car park. It is intended for official delegations and for passengers who need privacy and a separate handling circuit: its own pre-flight screening, a separate check-in desk, a waiting lounge, a bar and a meeting room. Passengers are taken to the aircraft by separate transport and met at the steps on arrival. Ground handling of business aviation flights in Krasnodar is performed by Jet Port Yug.

Other objects in the region

The whole series

Russia's thirty objects are one part of a worldwide catalogue of 308 terminals. How the country stands next to the other regions, which operator networks work beyond its borders and to what standards flights are handled there are covered in the summary article VIP terminals of business aviation worldwide.

How to use this

The region's thirty objects fall into three formats: five standalone complexes, ten standalone buildings and fifteen VIP lounges inside the common terminal. The format decides how a departure goes: a standalone complex has its own apron, its own stands and its own hangar line, while a VIP lounge inside the common terminal gives privacy on the ground with a shared route out to the aircraft. This point is settled before the flight is booked, together with who performs ground handling in the particular city.

I know the Moscow hub from the work of an operating air operator: seven years in business aviation, five before that in aircraft leasing. Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo share their runways with scheduled traffic, while business aviation keeps its own terminals there, and the whole difference in tempo grows out of that: arrival half an hour before departure, ten to fifteen minutes of formalities. The crew comes in through its own entrance, with separate customs and passport control. An urgent flight within Russia is arranged in four hours.

Alexander Filimonov — business aviation: sourcing, acquisition and entry into service of aircraft.