Sinegorye, RU 🇷🇺 Closed Airport
RU-0194
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- ft
RU-MAG
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 62.262558° N, 150.752421° E
Continent: AS
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: UHMQ УХМЯ Аэропорт Синегорье
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The airport ceased regular operations in the late 1990s or early 2000s. A precise official date is not well-documented, but its decline and eventual closure coincide with the post-Soviet economic crisis and the completion of its primary mission.
The closure was a direct result of economic factors and a lack of purpose. The airport was built almost exclusively to serve the massive construction project of the Kolyma Hydroelectric Power Station. Once the main construction phase was completed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the primary justification for the airport's existence vanished. The subsequent economic collapse in Russia during the 1990s made subsidizing regional aviation routes to a town with a declining population economically unsustainable. The improvement of the Kolyma Highway also provided a more cost-effective, albeit slower, ground transportation alternative for passengers and cargo.
The airport is completely abandoned and non-operational. Satellite imagery shows the runway, taxiways, and apron are still clearly visible but are in a severe state of disrepair, with significant cracking and vegetation overgrowth. The airport terminal building and other associated structures are derelict and decaying. The site is not maintained and serves no official purpose. The long, straight stretch of the former runway is sometimes used unofficially by local residents for recreational driving.
Sinegorye Airport was of critical strategic importance during the Soviet era, from its construction in the 1970s until the early 1990s. Its sole purpose was to act as a vital air bridge for the construction of the Kolyma Hydroelectric Power Station (Колымская ГЭС), a monumental engineering project in the remote and harsh environment of Magadan Oblast. The airport facilitated the rapid transport of thousands of specialized workers, engineers, and their families to the purpose-built town of Sinegorye. It also handled the airlift of urgent supplies, sensitive equipment, and high-value cargo. The airport primarily handled regional flights, connecting the construction site with the administrative center of Magadan (Sokol Airport). Operations likely included Soviet-era regional aircraft such as the Antonov An-24, An-26, and Yakovlev Yak-40, which were capable of operating from its approximately 1800-meter concrete runway.
There are no known official plans or credible prospects for reopening Sinegorye Airport. The significant depopulation of the town of Sinegorye since its Soviet-era peak means there is no longer sufficient demand for passenger or cargo air services. The cost to repair the runway, rebuild the terminal, and install modern navigation and safety equipment would be prohibitively expensive. Without a major new economic driver in the immediate area, such as a new large-scale industrial project or mining operation, the revival of the airport is considered economically unfeasible.
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