Yelizovo Airport is an airport located in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Krai. Its runway is long enough to accommodate a fully loaded Ilyushin Il-96 or Boeing 707 aircraft. The main apron contains 34 parking spaces, 18 of which can service large wide-body airliners, such as Ilyushin IL-96; additional 8 paved spaces for smaller aircraft and 12 unpaved parking spaces.
Military operating unit
The main military operating unit is the 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which operates Mikoyan MiG-31interceptor aircraft. Naval operations have also taken place here, most notably with the 317th Separate Composite Aviation Regiment operating Tupolev Tu-16R aircraft as late as 1992, and Beriev Be-12 and Tupolev Tu-95MS aircraft with unidentified units. Recent Google Earth high-resolution imagery revealed that the base continues to serve as an important military focal point, with 33 MiG-31 aircraft dispersed throughout the airfield and a large number of turboprop transports and helicopters. The 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment was activated as an Assault Aviation regiment in 1939. After two redesignations, it was renamed the 410th Assault Aviation Regiment in October 1944. It has been based at the base since 1945. In April 1949, it was renamed again as the 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and was later transferred to the Soviet Air Defence Forces, and renamed the 865th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO. From April 1986, it was assigned to the 6th Air Defence Division, 11th Independent Air Defence Army, PVO, until its reassignment to the Pacific Fleet. On 1 July 1998, it was transferred to the Soviet Pacific Fleet. It was equipped with Sukhoi Su-15s from 1974 to 1985, and was reequipped with MiG-31s from 1985. Airliner World ran a feature in their August 2008 issue on 'Aviation in Kamchatka,' leading with descriptions of Yelizovo. It confirmed the basing of 865 IAP and 317 OSAP, and commented 'the numbers of local military aircraft in open storage do catch the eye'...'difficult to assess whether the aircraft are active or not.' One photo showed a total of eleven MiG-31s parked closely together in two groups directly in front of two hardened aircraft shelters built into the hillside.
Runway reconstruction
On 1 April 2012, reconstruction began on runway 16R/34L in order to widen it to and extend it by to in order to better accommodate larger planes. Terminal and apron improvements are also included in the project.
New terminal
In August 2017, Airports of Regions won a contest to complete the construction of a new passenger terminal at the airport. The construction will commence in 2018 and is planned to be completed by 2021.
