Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov's Nafta Moskva company is to build a business aviation facility at Kubinka air force base near Moscow, after winning a tender to buy 46Ha (115 acres) of land at the facility.
The company has acquired 10% of the base, excluding the runway, which will be operated by the defence ministry and the new operator.
"We do not plan to buy any other aviation assets. This piece of the airfield was bought to build a business terminal for personal use," Nafta Moskva managing director Anton Averin says.
While the company has not disclosed who might have access to the facility, a manager in a business jet operations firm says Kerimov had last year offered use of the future base to some of his clients.
Nafta Moskva has not worked out a detailed land use plan yet, according to a company source quoted by business daily Kommersant, but has started planning. "We'll channel large sums of money into an airfield and runway upgrade," the paper quoted Nafta Moskva as saying.
Nafta Moskva has not ruled out co-operation with international managing companies, Averin says.
Construction of a new passenger terminal, aircraft flightline and servicing and maintenance facilities would cost about $25-27 million, Kommersant says.
Nafta Moskva has not disclosed the total cost of the project, but says it will be lower than $60 million.
The defence ministry received only two bids for the land, according to military sources quoted by Kommersant: one from Nafta Moskva's Kubinka Airport company and one from Balt Invest.
Kommersant says that Nafta Moskva has been looking for an opportunity to build a business terminal for its own requirements in response to take-off queues at Vnukovo-3, which is the home of Russia's government air service as well as commercial operators, and has had its second runway closed for repairs for several years.
Lack of infrastructure in Russia for business aviation has been an increasing problem, with the sector growing at around 15% a year until the advent of the economic crisis in 2008.
Other commercial entities are also known to be studying possible options for dedicated business aviation facilities near the Russian capital.
Source: Flight International
