Bolshoye Savino Airport

Bolshoye Savino Airport (Аэропорт Большое Савино) is an international airport located in Perm Krai, Russia located 16 km southwest of Perm, in the village of Bolshoye Savino. It is the only airport in Perm Krai with regular scheduled passenger flights. The majority of flights are between Perm and Moscow. The airport is linked to the city centre by coach.

It is a joint civil-military airfield with a small number of fighter and bomber pads. It is operated by 764 IAP (764th Interceptor Aviation Regiment), the only regiment of combat aviation in the 5th Army of VVS and PVO's area (and successor of the 4th Army of PVO in the USSR). However, according to Air Forces Monthly, July 2007, the 764th Regiment reports directly to Russian Air Force headquarters.

History
Construction of Bolshoye Savino took place in 1952 under the personal control of Marshal Zhukov, who was exiled by Stalin after World War II into the Urals to take command of the Ural Military District. On May 1, 1960 the pilots of 764 IAP Boris Ajvazyan and Sergey Safronov were involved in the interception of the United States U-2 spy aircraft; unfortunately Safronov, piloting a MiG-19, was shot down by friendly fire and died.

The year 1965 marked a major change in the airfield's operation. Bolshoye Savino became a joint civil airport, servicing medium-sized airliners, now with 39 parking spots near terminal and cargo area.

During the Cold War the airfield operated up to 38 MiG-25 interceptors, with a number of Yak-25, and Yak-28 aircraft and received modern MiG-31s in 1991. In 2002, the runway was lengthened from 2,500 to 3,200 meters.

Accidents

 * Aeroflot Flight 821, operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot, crashed on approach in rainy weather on September 14, 2008, killing all 88 people on board.