Mys Nizmenny Airport

Obsolescence and replacement. The original Mys Nizmenny airfield was a gravel or dirt strip suitable for earlier generations of aircraft. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union undertook a massive upgrade of its strategic airbases. A new, much longer and wider concrete runway, along with modern facilities, was built right next to the old strip to accommodate heavier, faster, and more demanding strategic bombers (like the Tupolev Tu-95) and large transport aircraft. The original airfield became redundant and was subsequently abandoned.

The site is completely abandoned and derelict. Satellite imagery clearly shows the faint, degraded outline of the former runway running parallel to the main, active runway of Ugolny Airport. The surface is overgrown and unusable for any form of aviation. The land is now part of the larger Ugolny Airport and military base complex and appears to be unused, serving as empty space between the main operational areas and the Anadyrsky Liman (estuary).

Mys Nizmenny was the original airfield serving the Anadyr and Ugolnye Kopi region and was a crucial Soviet Air Forces base during the early Cold War. Its strategic location in Chukotka, the closest point in Asia to North America, made it a vital forward operating base. It hosted fighter-interceptor regiments (flying aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-15) to protect Soviet airspace and served as a staging and dispersal airfield for long-range strategic bombers. In addition to its military role, it handled all essential civilian passenger and cargo flights for the remote mining settlement of Ugolnye Kopi and the regional capital of Anadyr.

Effectively zero. There are no known plans, discussions, or logical reasons to reopen the old Mys Nizmenny airfield. The adjacent Ugolny Airport (UHMA) is a large, fully operational international airport and military base that serves all current and foreseeable aviation needs for the region. Rebuilding the old, smaller strip would be entirely redundant and economically unjustifiable.