List of airports in Irad
This is a list of airports and airfields in Irad, including disused Soviet airfields. Irad has no scheduled international flights and no civilian passenger airport of its own: civil traffic uses the aprons and terminals beside the runway of Talas Air Base, a joint civil–military airfield since 2007, and the only scheduled route is the subsidized service of Iradiya between Talas and Tash-Kömür. Nurzhan, the second city, has no passenger airport. Because Irad is not a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization, its airfields have no ICAO or IATA codes, and every international flight needs landing and overflight permits issued case by case by the neighboring states.[1][2]
Airfields in the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ) are given by district; those in the Autonomous Tribal Regions (ATR) by planning zone. Positions and runway lengths follow the Kartalar map of Attelkom.[3]
Airfields in use
| Airfield | Location | Coordinates | Runway | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talas Air Base | Talas District (ISEZ), 12 km west of Talas, on the southern terrace of the Talas River | 42°32′N 72°06′E | 3,400 m | US forces, the air wing of the State Defense Corps, civil charter and cargo flights; civil aprons and the Talas Airport Logistics Hub on the southern side |
| Tash-Kömür airstrip | Lower Naryn District (ISEZ), beside Tash-Kömür | 41°20′N 72°12′E | c. 1,900 m (lengthened 2009) | Iradiya's scheduled flights to Talas, three times a week and daily in winter; UNMI observer rotations |
| Toktogul Airstrip | Toktogul District (ISEZ), about 6 km west of Toktogul | 41°53′N 72°52′E | c. 1,000 m | Iradiya charters and medical evacuation, mainly in winter; inside the restricted-weapons zone along the line |
| Boz-Korgon Airstrip | Chu District (ISEZ), about 4 km north-east of the Boz-Korgon compound | 43°37′N 74°17′E | c. 1,200 m | Government and Iradiya charter aircraft; inside the compound's fenced restricted area, closed to UNMI patrols since 2023 |
| Kerben Airstrip | Chatkal Highlands zone (ATR), in the foothills west of the Naryn | 41°29′N 71°44′E | c. 1,800 m | Soviet-built; no scheduled service; Iradiya Twin Otters only with the consent of the clan council, coordinated through UNMI |
| Kazarman Airstrip | Tribal side (ATR), on a terrace above the Naryn gorge upstream of the reservoir | 41°25′N 74°03′E | c. 1,800 m | Soviet-built; no scheduled service; medical evacuations and supplies by Iradiya with clan consent |
Disused airfields
| Airfield | Location | Coordinates | Runway | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aulie-Ata Airfield | Kara-Buura District (ISEZ), about 8 km south-west of Aulie-Ata | 42°52′N 71°18′E | 3,500 m | Soviet regional airport, closed 1994; kept as a diversion field for Talas Air Base; farms dry grain on the concrete |
| Kulan Airfield | Kara-Buura District (ISEZ), on the plain north of the Kyrgyz Range about 40 km west-north-west of Merke | 42°58′N 72°44′E | — | Soviet bomber dispersal field, closed 1992; inside the restricted-weapons zone since 2007 and inspected by UNMI every quarter |
| Moiynkum Airfield | Northern Steppe zone (ATR), about 8 km west-south-west of Kaiyrma on the lower Chu | 44°16′N 72°57′E | — | Soviet reserve airfield, abandoned; concrete partly lifted; the apron is a herders' camel market |
History
In the Soviet period civil flights in the Iradi Soviet Socialist Republic were run by the republican directorate of Aeroflot, and a 2,500-meter concrete runway was laid at the interceptor base west of Talas in 1952 (see Founding of Talas Air Base (1952)). US military engineers lengthened it to 3,400 meters between 1993 and 1998, and the base was the main entry point for US forces in 1992 and a staging area for operations in Afghanistan from 2001.[4] Iradiya was founded in 1997 and works from hangars beside the base. The end of the territorial administration in 2006 also ended the US certification of Iradi aviation; since 2007 Iradiya's leased aircraft have been registered in Bermuda by their owners, and the airline is certified by the ISEZ Civil Aviation Directorate.[1] The Tash-Kömür strip was lengthened in 2009, the year the State Route 1 corridor protocol joined the Toktogul basin and the Naryn gorge to the ISEZ, to carry the winter link between the two parts of the zone when snow closes the Fergana Gateway.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2021). 'Flying Without a Flag: Civil Aviation in an Unrecognized Territory.' Vol. 17, pp. 133–152.
- ^ Eurasian Development Bank (2023). Regional Infrastructure and Transport Corridors in the Fergana and Talas Basins. EDB Monograph Series, pp. 56–71.
- ^ Attelkom (2026). 'Kartalar: Attelkom Maps.' Talas.
- ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2022). 'Airpower at the Crossroads: Talas Air Base and US Posture in Central Asia.' pp. 54–68.
- ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2019). 'One Road South: The Fergana Highway and the Southern Salient of the ISEZ.' Vol. 15, pp. 88–109.