History

Karaganda airport was established in February 1934 by the decision of the Government of the USSR to provide communication with remote villages from the center. The first flights were carried out on PO-2 aircraft, one aircraft could take up to 2 passengers or 150-200 kg of mail. The beginning of passenger traffic from Almaty falls on 1937, flights were carried out on PS-9 aircraft. In 1944, the airfield was relocated to the area of the New City, and 10 years later, in 1954, the construction of office premises began. The runway with artificial turf was built in 1959.

In 1980, the construction of a new Airport began, which includes a modern terminal complex and a runway, and to this day is capable of receiving almost any aircraft. The construction of the runway was completed in record time and on November 4, 1980, the first IL-62 airliner made a technical landing at the new airport. Since that time, regular air service on TU-154 aircraft has been opened between Karaganda and the largest cities of the former Soviet Union.

Flights to Moscow, Leningrad, Almaty, Sochi, Kiev, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Baku and many other destinations were carried out from Karaganda Airport.

The formation of a new Kazakh state in 1991 presented new requirements for the organization of air communication with foreign countries. The practice that developed in the Soviet period, when the vast majority of international flights were operated through Moscow airports, could no longer meet the needs of Kazakhstan in air transportation, and in 1992 the Sary-Arka airport was assigned the status of an international airport under a temporary scheme. This marked the beginning of international flights from Karaganda.

The main foreign destinations were the cities of Germany (Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Nuremberg), Istanbul (Turkey), Sharjah (United Arab Emirates). There were also flights to Poland, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Thailand. In addition to international flights, air communication with the CIS countries and cities of Kazakhstan was maintained.

As a result of the work carried out in 2002, the building of the airport complex with a total area of 30,000 square meters was fully put into operation. There is a runway with a width of 60 m and a length of 3300 m, which allows receiving aircraft of the type "Boeing-747", IL-86, TU-204.

In parallel with the changes in the geography of flights, the construction of the terminal continued, and on September 5, 1996, the official opening ceremony of the Sary-Arka airport complex took place.

Today, Sary-Arka Airport is a modern airport complex with high technical and operational characteristics that meet international standards and has a powerful potential for development. The airport operates around the clock, provides customs, border and sanitary quarantine control. At the service of air passengers there is a convenient waiting room, a luggage room, a medical center, a mother and child room, a restaurant and an express bar, prayer rooms. The on-board power supply shop is working. There are VIP and CIP halls. In the arrival and departure halls of the AVC, in the premises of the customs warehouse, modern inspection equipment (manufactured in Great Britain and Germany) is installed, providing high-quality inspection of passengers and luggage. Air Astana, Tulpar Avia Service (Kazakhstan), Rossiya, Transaero, Domodedovo Airlines, (Russia), and Turkishairlines airlines operate both domestic and international flights from the airport to the cities of Kazakhstan, Russia, Germany, and Turkey (Turkey) and others.

On October 11, 1996, for No. 1927-1930-JSC, an open joint-stock company "Sary-Arka Airport" was formed in accordance with the Resolution of the Karaganda Territorial Committee for State Property Management dated October 11, 1996 No. 129 with 100% state participation in the authorized capital of the Company. On December 30, 1997, the Company was re-registered with the justice authorities in connection with the renaming into the open joint stock company "Sary-Arka Airport", after which the Company on May 21, 1998 passed the state registration of the founding issue of 89.551 ordinary shares at a par value of 10,000 (ten thousand) tenge. On July 22, 2003, the Company was re-registered with the justice authorities, changing its name to the Sary-Arka Airport Joint Stock Company and increasing the number of declared 120 ordinary shares, which in total amounted to 89,671 ordinary shares. On November 25, 2005, the Department of Finance of the Karaganda Region held an open investment tender for the sale of a state stake in Sary-Arka Airport JSC in the amount of 100% of the company's authorized capital in the amount of 89,671 ordinary shares, the winner of which was Sky Service LLP. After the said tender, a contract for the purchase and sale of a state-owned 100% stake in Sary-Arka Airport JSC was concluded with Sky Service LLP. Sky Service LLP paid 89,671 ordinary shares at the end of December 2005 and these shares were credited to its personal account.