Chayek, KG 🇰🇬 Closed Airport
KG-0035
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5495 ft
KG-N
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 41.934101° N, 74.5364° E
Continent: AS
Type: Closed Airport
It appears that Chayek Airport (KG-0035) in Chayek, Kyrgyzstan, is not an active airport for commercial passenger travel, and therefore, there are no recent traveler reviews or experiences available.
Information gathered suggests that an airport in the region, Cholpon-Ata Airport (ICAO: UAFG), which is near Chayek, has been abandoned for commercial flights since 2003. Its runway is reportedly now used as a road, and the terminal building is described as "empty and slowly crumbling". Issyk-Kul International Airport (Tamchy Airport) has replaced Cholpon-Ata Airport for commercial operations in the Issyk-Kul region.
Given this, it is not possible to provide a summary of recent traveler sentiment, satisfaction, terminal facilities, security wait times, transportation connections, parking, or notable strengths and complaints for Chayek Airport (KG-0035) as it does not appear to serve active passenger traffic.
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The airport is believed to have ceased operations in the early 1990s, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. There is no exact documented date of closure, but its decline aligns with the widespread abandonment of small, local airfields across former Soviet republics during this period.
The closure was primarily due to economic reasons. With the collapse of the USSR, the centrally planned and heavily subsidized Aeroflot system, which operated a vast network of local routes, disintegrated. The newly independent Kyrgyzstan faced a severe economic crisis, making it impossible to continue funding and maintaining small, unprofitable airfields like Chayek. The sharp increase in fuel costs and a dramatic drop in demand for local air travel rendered its operation unsustainable.
The airport is completely abandoned and non-operational. Satellite imagery of the site shows a clearly discernible but unmaintained dirt and gravel runway. There are no remaining airport buildings, such as a terminal or hangars. The land is now used informally for livestock grazing and as a track for local vehicles. The faint outline of the runway is the only significant evidence of its former use as an airfield.
During the Soviet era, Chayek Airport was a vital transportation link for the remote Jumgal District in the mountainous Naryn Region. It connected the local population to regional centers and the capital, Frunze (now Bishkek), for passenger travel, mail delivery, and medical evacuations. The airport primarily handled small, rugged aircraft capable of operating from unpaved runways, with the Antonov An-2 being the most common type. It also played a role in the local economy by supporting agricultural aviation, such as crop dusting. For a community in a region with difficult overland transport, the airfield was a crucial piece of infrastructure.
There are no known or publicly discussed plans to reopen Chayek Airport. The economic case for its revival is extremely weak. The Kyrgyz government's aviation strategy focuses on upgrading a few key regional airports to support tourism and business, not on re-establishing small, local airstrips. The cost of rebuilding the infrastructure, certifying the airfield, and subsidizing flights would be prohibitive, especially given that ground transportation, while still challenging, serves the current needs of the region.