Siberian Airports targets 2028 opening for Taishet airport

Siberian Airports plans to build and open a new airport near Taishet in the Irkutsk region by the end of 2028. The Rusal group's airport operator, formerly Rusal Aero, puts the project cost at an estimated RUB 15.6 billion.

The planned airport complex has the following design parameters:

• a terminal area of 2,682 square metres;
• capacity for 100 passengers per hour;
• about 70,000 passengers annually;
• an asphalt-concrete runway suitable for Superjet 100 aircraft.

The investor has acquired land at Shelekhovo in the Taishet district and completed design and cost estimates. Private funding is planned for the terminal and passenger infrastructure.

Design work and road access

The airport design was presented to the Irkutsk region's authorities on Jul 24, 2024. At that stage, Taishetaero was accepting the completed design and cost documentation. The presentation specified annual terminal capacity of 68,600 passengers and provided for take-offs and landings in either direction on an asphalt-surfaced runway.

Road access formed a separate part of the preparations. Regional authorities identified required improvements along kilometres 0–35 of the Taishet–Shelekhovo–Talaya–Serebrovo road, the bridge over the Biryusa River at kilometre 34.125, and the airport access road. The planned development was expected to increase traffic, including heavy vehicles.

The regional transport ministry intended to coordinate restoration of individual road sections with Russian Railways. The regional road directorate was also to schedule the necessary work. These preparations accompanied the airport design and the selection of land for construction.

Establishment of the airport project

Rusal Aero registered the Taishetaero subsidiary in 2022 for the planned regional airport. Its principal business activity was airport operations. The initial project covered a passenger terminal, runway and associated airfield infrastructure, with design-organisation selection and construction-cost calculations under way in March of that year.

The preliminary estimate at that stage was approximately RUB 7 billion. Rusal's proposed funding arrangement involved investing its own money and subsequently transferring the runway and airfield facilities to the state, with compensation for their construction. That arrangement was a proposal at the early project stage.

The airport project was connected with Rusal's industrial development in Taishet, including its aluminium smelter. The company envisaged improved transport access for people in the area, particularly employees of the smelter's first phase, which had entered service in Dec 2021.