Baykovo Airport

Military base closure and depopulation of the island. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia undertook a massive military drawdown due to severe economic constraints. The strategic military garrison on Shumshu Island, which the airport exclusively served, was withdrawn. Consequently, the supporting civilian settlement of Baykovo was officially abolished in 1999, rendering the airfield obsolete.

The airport is completely abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. Satellite imagery shows two distinct runways in a cross pattern, both of which are severely cracked, weathered, and overgrown with vegetation, making them unusable. The entire site is a military ghost town, littered with the ruins of barracks, hangars, aircraft revetments, and other Cold War-era infrastructure. The island of Shumshu is now uninhabited, and the former airfield is a destination for military historians, artifact hunters ('diggers'), and extreme tourists exploring WWII and Cold War relics.

The airfield has significant military history dating back to World War II. It was originally constructed by the Empire of Japan as the Kataoka Naval Air Base, a major stronghold in the Kuril Islands. In August 1945, it was a central point in the Battle of Shumshu, the last major land battle of WWII, when Soviet forces invaded. After the war, the Soviet Union took control and operated it as the 'Baykovo' military airbase. During the Cold War, it was a forward operating base for the Soviet Air Force, hosting fighter interceptors (such as MiG-17s and MiG-23s) and transport aircraft. The airport was critical for the air defense of the Soviet Far East and served as the primary logistical and transport hub for the thousands of military personnel and their families stationed on the isolated island.

Extremely low to non-existent. There are no official or credible plans to reopen Baykovo Airport. The Russian government's focus for infrastructure development in the region is on the neighboring, populated island of Paramushir, where a new all-season civilian airport is being constructed to serve the city of Severo-Kurilsk. Reopening Baykovo would require a complete reconstruction of all facilities at an immense cost in a harsh, remote environment with no resident population to serve. Its revival would only be conceivable as part of a major, large-scale remilitarization of Shumshu Island itself, for which there are currently no public plans.