Business aviation coming to Ramenskoye

A bizav/GA center is expected to open at Ramenskoye airfield outside Moscow in 2017. The International Business Aviation Center (IBAC) is part of a government program to turn Ramenskoye, currently used mostly by experimental and government aircraft, into a civilian airport. It is a joint project of Avcom Group, represented by Jet Travel Club, the Rossiya transport and exhibition center owned by Rostec Corporation, and the RusLine air carrier. Avcom used to operate the bizav terminal at Domodedovo airport before selling the business in May this year. Avcom president Evgeny Bakhtin believes the IBAC may serve as a testing ground for standardized budget solutions to be used in setting up and operating business aviation centers which would offer high-quality ground handling services at appealing prices. “Our ultimate goal is to create a nationwide network of ground handling operators at regional airports that would operate to uniform standards and provide the entire spectrum of bizav and GA services, including MRO,” Bakhtin says. The project was launched in August 2013 and has progressed in stages, Bakhtin notes. All cadastre formalities were completed in three months, a surprisingly short period for Russia. The partners then cleared the construction site, laid over 1.5 km of blacktop roads to allow for direct entry to the future center, and repaired 25,000 sq.m of apron. “We have built two hangars with a total area of 3,500 sq.m; these will be used for maintenance purposes and for storing aircraft up to the size of the Bombardier Challenger 850,” Bakhtin says. “We have also erected the tower and installed a checkpoint for crew and passengers. The center has deicing vehicles and towing devices for any aircraft types. It is fully equipped to handle privately owned bizav and GA airplanes.” Ramenskoye is located to the southeast of Moscow. It is certified for international operations. Its runway, the longest one in Europe (80 x 5,500 m), can be used by all types of aircraft. The airfield handles civilian ICAO Cat II approaches, although the equipment already in place can potentially handle Cat IIIA approaches.