Russia’s Kaluga Grabtsevo airport to reopen on May 27th as international flight destination

After being transferred from state to regional ownership, in 2008 Grabtsevo airport was purchased by Volkswagen Russia, a subsidiary of the Volswagen Group. The region is a mecca for industry, and especially the automotive sector, with major manufacturers including Volkswagen, Citroen, Mitsubishi, Volvo and Peugeot having invested heavily in the area. In 2012 it was announced by the region’s governor, Anatoly Artamonov, that there was to be a new airport at Kaluga costing an estimated US$80m. It was also confirmed by Vladimir Popov, the Minister for Economic Development of Kaluga Region, that the airport would provide facilities for business jets as well as the Airbus A319 and Boeing 737 as an indication of the take-off weight of appropriate planes. He went on to say that “Our studies show that foreign employees working in Kaluga Region industrial parks often take trips to Europe. They need to be able to move from one destination to another as fast as possible”. At the time the First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Government, Igor Shuvalov, also said that “It’s a well-known fact that over 60 major production facilities and dozens of medium-sized ones have been opened in Kaluga Region in the recent years. Today investors speak of the necessity to organize air transportation both for cargos and passengers”.
Funding for the airport is believed to have come from a combination of federal and regional budgets, plus a number of unnamed private investors. Kaluga region has been the subject of heavy investment for some time, 2013 as an example achieving investment in the region of some 70bn rubles (US$2.24bn) of which US$1bn was from foreign investors. It is understood that the official opening of the new airport will see the commencement of Volkswagen Air Services charter flights to Braunschweig Airport near Wolfsburg, and Ruzyně Airport, Prague.