History
The Nakhchivan airport was constructed in 1976 and used to accommodate 3rd class aircrafts (such as Yak-40, An-24 and similar aircrafts). It used to dispatch flights only to Baku. The airport started to develop in the second half of 1990s: as a result of the Armenian blockade of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, aviation became the only mean of communication.
Starting from 1990s Airport started its development. For this reason, Heydar Aliyev, who was the chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan at the time, initiated reconstruction of Nakhchivan Airport’s runway in 1992 and this work was carried out by local specialists and completed in a short period of time. Following extension of the runway, the airport obtained an opportunity to accommodate Tu-154 aircraft.
In 2002-2004, Airport was reconstructed and runway with new solid-concrete design and cargo transportation capacity up to 400 tons was built as well as new Airport premises meeting international standards was put into practice for passengers. Thus, after creation of such modern infrastructure, Nakhchivan Airport received the status of an International Airport in April 2004.