Qabala International Airport
Qabala Airport Qəbələ Beynəlxalq Aeroportu | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Government | ||||||||||
| Serves | Qabala | ||||||||||
| Location | Qabala, Azerbaijan | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,129 ft (344 m) | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°49′36″N 047°42′45″E / 40.82667°N 47.71250°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  GBB/UBBQ Location of airport in Qabala, Azerbaijan  GBB/UBBQ GBB/UBBQ (West and Central Asia)  GBB/UBBQ GBB/UBBQ (Asia)  GBB/UBBQ GBB/UBBQ (Europe) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2014) | |||||||||||
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| Elevation/runway: DAFIF[1] Coordinates: WikiMapia[2] | |||||||||||
Qabala International Airport (Azerbaijani: Qəbələ Beynəlxalq Aeroportu) (IATA: GBB, ICAO: UBBQ) is an airport serving Qabala[1] (also known as Qəbələ or Gabala), the capital of the Gabala district (rayon) in Azerbaijan. The airport was officially opened by President Ilham Aliyev on 17 November 2011.[3]
History
The construction of Gabala Airport began in 2011 and was inaugurated in the same year. In the same year, Gabala Airport was granted international status. The airport's first international flight began operating in November 2012. The first international flight was operated by the Russian company Ural Airlines on the Moscow-Gabala route.[4]
In 2020, before the start of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, during joint military exercises between the Azerbaijani and Turkish armies, 6 F-16 fighter jets belonging to the Turkish Air Force were first stationed at Ganja International Airport and then at Gabala Airport. These aircraft continued to remain in Gabala during the war. Although President Ilham Aliyev confirmed in his address to the people that these aircraft were in Azerbaijan, he stated that they did not participate in military operations in Karabakh, and that the F-16 aircraft would protect Azerbaijan if a third party intervened in the war.[5]
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of 935 feet (285 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 16/34 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,600 by 60 metres (11,811 ft × 197 ft).[1] Runway 16 is equipped with an ILS CAT II, which enables aircraft operations in low ceiling (30 meters) and visibility (350 meters).[6]
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Azerbaijan Airlines | Baku[7] |
Statistics
| Passengers | Change from previous year | Aircraft operations | Change from previous year | Cargo (metric tons) | Change from previous year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 46,658 | N.D. | 900 | N.D. | 327 | N.D. |
| 2014 | 55,651 |  19.27% | 918 | 2.00% | 3 |  99.08% |
| Source: Airports Council International. World Airport Traffic Reports (Years 2013,[8] and 2014[9]) | ||||||
See also
- "Gabala International Airport". Azerbaijan Republic Gabala.
- Transport in Azerbaijan
- List of airports in Azerbaijan
References
- 1 2 3 Airport information for UBBQ from DAFIF (effective July 2012)
- ↑ Coordinates from aerial imagery at WikiMapia
- ↑ azal.az – Gabala Airport Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Gabala Airport starts international flights". Archived from the original on 1 November 2012.
- ↑ "Turkey's Forward Deployed F-16s In Azerbaijan Have Moved To A New Base". 26 October 2020.
- ↑ charts.aero – UBBQ charts Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "AZAL will continue flights to Ganja and Gabala | Azerbaijan Airlines". 9 October 2019. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021.
- ↑ Airport Council International's 2013 World Airport Traffic Report
- ↑ Airport Council International Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine's 2014 World Airport Traffic Report