Greetings to aviation lovers and those who sympathize with us!
Today's review is dedicated to a significant event that occurred in Omsk aviation.
In the Omsk region, after 26 years, regular flights on the route Omsk - Ust-Ishim - Omsk, the last one, have resumed the flight was carried out in 1998.
In the 80s, Ust-Ishim airport served up to 100 passengers and 11 flights daily. It received MI-2 and MI-8 helicopters, AN-2, L-410 aircraft from November 1974 after the construction of the runway and AN-24. From here it was possible to fly to Omsk, Tara, Tobolsk, Ishim and to the north, where there were Khanty camps.
In 1983, night flights began in Ust-Ishim L-410 aircraft. For this purpose, the Luch lighting system was brought from Omsk. In the mid-80s, construction began on an artificial turf runway 1000 meters long and 35 meters wide. The commissioning of the strip increased the airport's congestion. If in 1985 in Ust-Ishim only 354 flights were accepted on L-410 aircraft, then with the introduction of a new runway in 1988 their number increased to 1191 flights. In 1989, Ust-Ishim airport became a record holder. During the year, 25,000 passengers were transported, and this is with a population of the village itself of 21,000 people! The team received an award - the Challenge Red Banner of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.
Since 1993, passenger traffic began to decrease. In 1997, 707 passengers were sent from Omsk to the region’s airports, in 1998 – 56. In the same year, 12 An-2 flights were carried out to Ust-Ishim from Omsk, which carried 16 passengers. The airport in Ust-Ishim continued to operate, accepting ambulance flights and aircraft carrying out emergency rescue operations, until 2009.
And on August 14, 2024, Omsk and Ust-Ishim were again connected by air. Before this, it was only possible to get here by bus, and the travel time is 12 hours. Flights operate three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Travel time is from 2 hours 15 minutes, and the cost of a one-way ticket is 2741 rubles, tickets for this flight are non-refundable. You can buy them at the Aviatur agency in the city and at the ticket office at the airport. It is also possible to buy remotely by calling the same agency. There are no online sales yet, but they are working on it now. I bought tickets four days before departure. Sold without any problems for round trip flights. This pleasure cost 5482 rubles.
I will not stop on the flight from Omsk to Ust-Ishim, since I have already shown Omsk airport many times. If anyone is interested, you can read the review of the flight Omsk - Moscow with Ural Airlines released in July of this year.
Departure from Omsk at 10:00, arrival in Ust-Ishim is scheduled at 12:15, but due to the wind we arrived at 12:30. The return flight is scheduled at 13:00, during which time the plane will be refueled and prepared for departure. When the flight was just starting to operate, passengers were checked in at the Ust-Ishim bus station. Now it seems that boarding passes are brought to all passengers at the airfield and distributed there. On the day of departure, an employee of the Ust-Ishim airport called me and said that there was no need to go to the bus station, and I would get a boarding pass at the airfield. There he also gave them to other passengers. The places are not indicated, who managed to go where, he flies there.
If in Soviet times at the Ust-Ishim airport there was an airport building in which there was a dining room and a room mother and child. Now it’s more like a landing site.
Somewhere near the end of the runway, sheep and horses are grazing. This reminded me of the footage from the film "Mimino": D
There is a very stern SAB working at the airfield, which not only observes, but also sniffs!
Passengers are waiting to board the plane outside the gate. At the time of the flight there was not even any protection from precipitation, but it would soon begin to rain. On the left in the background you can see several concrete slabs, perhaps the airport building will be made from them. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that they are here. In addition to the gate behind which there are passengers who meet and see off, the “sterile” area of Grass now grows in its place, but the approximate dimensions are clear.
On the territory of the airfield there is a technical hangar and a "toilet" type toilet.
As you can see, the breeze that day was good. The PIC said that he tried to go higher and go lower, but the wind reached all levels.
While we were inspecting the airfield, our plane was being prepared for the return flight. That day, I spent almost five hours traveling Omsk - Ust-Ishim - Omsk on board the An-2P no. RA-07317. The plane was produced in 1973, now it is 51 years old. This is the oldest plane I have ever flown on. Previously, this aircraft flew only in Kostroma, first with Aeroflot and then with the Kostroma Aviation Enterprise. This year he joined Aeroprom and now carries passengers in the Omsk region.
A few words about the Aeroprom airline which operates these flights. It was founded in 2012 and is based at the Voznesenka landing site, located 12 km east of Krasnoyarsk. According to the website of the Federal Air Transport Agency, the airline's fleet consists of 11 An-2 and three Aeroprakt-22.
Until 2023, Aeroprom was engaged in patrolling, fighting forest fires, aerial chemical work and aerial photography. In July 2022, the company was cleared to transport customer personnel and cargo, and in June 2023. received a certificate for commercial air transportation.
Let's look at a couple more photos of our plane and get on board.
Boarding is carried out through a door at the rear of the plane, using its own staircase.
The cabin is designed to carry 10 passengers, but 9 tickets are sold for flights, since one of the seats in the cabin is occupied by a technician.
It was time to take a photo of the cockpit, inside it seems a bit crowded.
Boarding on the plane went quickly, 8 people were flying to Omsk. That is, the flight load was almost 100%. In the morning there were 7 passengers from Omsk. These flights are popular and if earlier it was said that it would be seasonal, now there is talk that it will be year-round.
The PIC took his place in the cockpit and greeted passengers on the intergalactic flight Ust-Ishim - Omsk. He said that turbulence was expected during the flight and handed out hygiene bags to the passengers in front; the rest had them in their seat pockets. He reported the approximate flight time, said that he flew, and we did as we wanted, and closed the door to the cockpit.
Now, for a complete immersion in the flight, I suggest you watch the video of the take-off from Ust-Ishim. If you think that my hands are crooked because the camera shakes during takeoff. That's not true
! This is currently the runway at the airfield and the bumpiness promised by the PIC immediately after takeoff.]
Now let's take a look around our grandfather's salon. Of course, there are no luggage racks; all luggage is folded either under the seats, or there is a special place in front of the door for large luggage. Each seat is equipped with a seat belt.
There are individual fans, but they did not seem to work. Below them there is a button to call the crew.
There is plenty of legroom in the first row, in the next two it is worse, but still tolerable.
The interior lighting consists of several lamps in the ceiling. Also written on the wall in red letters is a warning about the dangers of unfastening your seat belt and smoking on board.
The cockpit is separated from the cabin by a door , near which there is a first aid kit.
In the pockets chairs, in addition to sanitary bags, there were also safety instructions.
I think I’m done with the interior, now I invite you to look at the autumn landscapes of the Omsk region.
After takeoff, turbulence was felt. But the closer we flew to Omsk, it began to disappear.
After two hours of flight, the outskirts of the city appeared on the left side.
You could also see our final point, this is Omsk airport.
Now I again invite you to immerse yourself in our flight and watch the video of the landing in Omsk. Moreover, the landing was not carried out according to the standard scheme, as large planes land. We will fly over the airport itself, over the museum of the Omsk Flight Technical College of Civil Aviation and the Omsk Cadet Corps.
After we were parked, we sat in the cabin for another five minutes, waiting for the ground services to get ready to receive passengers. After which the PIC opened his door and told the technician that passengers could leave the plane. He asked if everyone had survived the flight well and said goodbye to us.
A non-standard bus for passengers was waiting for us on the platform. And the minibus, which usually carries business class passengers.
The last look at our today's hero, or is it the heroine? An-2 is called "Annushka".
And we go to the airport building. But as it turned out, they took us not to the baggage claim hall, but to one of the airport checkpoints.
I feel good about this checkpoint familiar, it is through it that spotters go to events at the airport. Crew members also enter the territory through it. Now passengers arriving from Ust-Ishim are also inspected here.
To my question, what is this inspection for? They told me that they didn’t inspect us in Ust-Ishim, so we need to do it. It’s an interesting logic, of course, because we have already arrived and are going out into the street, and not into the airport building. This point remained unclear to me.
This is where I will end the review of this flight and let’s sum it up.
The opening of the regional flight is not may not make you happy. So far this is only one route, in the future it is planned to open a flight to Tara. Of course, it will no longer be possible to restore the volumes of traffic from the times of the USSR, but large regional centers may someday be connected with Omsk by flights. Now Aeroprom, of course, has helped a lot with flights, but in the future we still need to create our own airline, which will have at least 5 aircraft. It is unlikely to be achieved on such a scale as, for example, in the Arkhangelsk region, but something will happen.
And I would like to express my gratitude to the crew of our An-2 for the humor and pleasant flight, and to the staff of the local airfield for the welcome in Ust-Ishim. They let me take pictures calmly and answered the questions I asked.
I hope you liked this review, thank you for your attention and see you again!
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