Sary-Arka Airport

Sary-Arka Airport (Saryarqa äuejaiy) is an International  airport which serves the city Qarağandy and its satellite town in Kazakhstan. It is located 24 km southeast of the city.

History
The initial airport was built in 1934, on a site at the edge of the city centre, and moved further out to its current location in 1944. The old terminal building on Shturman Street still stands, now occupied as a bus terminal and a market for car parts.

In 1980 it underwent major reconstructions, including the construction of a new terminal building and the modernization of the runway. This made the landing of heavier aircraft possible, which allowed a gateway to many new destinations in the Soviet Union.

In 1992, the airport was granted international status. It has become an independent joint stock company after the separation from JSC "Karagandaavia" in 1997. It is not related to Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan on the World Heritage List.

Sary-Akra Airport is home to the 610th Air Base of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan, one of four fast jet bases in the country with MiG-31s, Su-27s and Su-25s.

The airport is usually used as a staging area, from which the returning crewmembers of the International Space Station are flown to their respective home bases at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the Johnson Space Center or the European Astronaut Centre following a traditional welcome ceremony upon landing in their Soyuz (spacecraft) capsule.