As Russia’s second busiest freight airport, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport dominates the technical landing market for freight flights between Europe and Asia.
Head of cargo and mail department Igor Knyazhevskiy tells Air Cargo Week that so far this year, cargo and mail is up 4.7% and growth is expected to reach 6% by the end of 2019. The busiest Russian lane remains to Moscow, while in the CIS it is to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, while Maastricht in the Netherlands is the main international destination. In any given day, six to eight cargo flights travel via the airport.
The modern 12,000 sq m cargo terminal with capacity to handle more than 50,000 tonnes of cargo annually can handle and store goods including live animals, plants, valuables, dangerous goods, perishables and diplomatic goods.
Knyazhevskiy says: “Providing convenience to the international transport companies, the cargo terminal accommodates customs warehouse, customs post of the Federal Customs Service, offices of customs brokers and forwarding companies.”
With its location in southwest Siberia, Tolmachevo handles a lot of technical landings for freighter flights connecting China and Southeast Asia with Europe.
Knyazhevskiy says there are plans to develop the cargo and mail hub at the airport, with Russian Post building a 48,000 sq m Mail Logistics Centre (MLC) at Tolmachevo. It will serve as a key point for processing international mail and distribution for the territory from the Urals to the Russian Far East.
He says: “The MLC throughput capacity will be 1 million parcels per day. The centre is expected to be operational by mid-2020, one of eight Russian MLCs specialising in the consolidation of international postal items from China and other countries and their distribution to Russian regions.”
