The Irkutsk governor suggested that Putin return the airport to the state

The governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, proposed returning the Irkutsk airport to federal ownership. In 2014, the airport was transferred to the ownership of the region for the reconstruction of the terminal. The governor invited the Rostec state corporation to make a property contribution to the airport.

“The Rostec State Corporation has expressed its readiness to develop the aviation hub of the city of Irkutsk. This will contribute to strengthening cooperation on the MS-21 aircraft program and the formation of an aviation industry cluster,” he said at a meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of the federal year-round resort project “Five Seas and Lake Baikal” (quote from TASS).

In 2014, the Irkutsk airport became regional property. It was planned that the regional authorities would reconstruct the terminal and build a new airport. This was supposed to attract investors. However, these plans were never realized. In December 2023 TASS reported that Governor Kobzev proposed expanding the airport’s territory at the expense of agricultural land. According to him, this would make it possible to build a new airfield infrastructure. At the same time, Mr. Kobzev mentioned plans to return the airport to state ownership.

To reconstruct airports in Russia, it is planned to create a fund in which private investors will invest. Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrov reportedthat 51 airfields will be reconstructed using funds from this fund.

Read more about the government’s plans to reconstruct the airfield infrastructure in Russia in the material “The runways will be paved with passengers’ money”.

Evgeny Belousov