Samara Airport Guide: Kurumoch and the Volga Gateway
Samara Airport, officially Kurumoch International, serves Russia's Volga region. Its history, two runways, terminals, airlines, routes and transport.
By The Aviation Hub
5 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Samara Airport, officially Kurumoch International Airport, serves the city of Samara and the industrial Middle Volga region of Russia. It sits in open countryside north of the city, close to the car making centre of Tolyatti. Around 3.6 million passengers used it in 2024, most of them on domestic flights to Moscow and other Russian cities. The airport also has deep roots in Samara’s aerospace industry, which builds rockets and once built airliners.
Samara Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is KUF and the ICAO code is UWWW. The airport lies roughly 22 miles (35 km) north of central Samara, near the village of Kurumoch, at an elevation of 477 feet (145 m). It has two runways and a main passenger terminal, plus a business aviation terminal and a cargo terminal. Samara Airport handled about 3.57 million passengers in 2024, slightly up on 3.54 million in 2023.
The owner is JSC Kurumoch International Airport, operated since 2011 by the Airports of Regions holding company. Aeroflot, Pobeda, S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines, Red Wings and Utair are among the main carriers. Schedules and passenger information are on the airport’s official website.
How Samara’s Airport Came to Be
Construction began on 19 December 1957. The field opened for military use on 30 July 1960. The first commercial flight left for Moscow on 27 February 1961, and full passenger status followed on 15 May 1961. At the time the city was called Kuybyshev, and the airport took that name. It became a key stop for Aeroflot routes across the Volga and into Siberia and Central Asia. The city’s Aviakor plant built Tupolev Tu-154 airliners, and the Progress factory still builds Soyuz rockets.
International status arrived in 1992, after the city had reverted to Samara. In 2002 the airport was renamed Kurumoch International Airport after the nearby village, dropping the Soviet era name. Samara Airlines made the field its hub until it went bankrupt in 2008, leaving the airport to the national carriers.
Investment followed the 2011 change of ownership. A modernisation contract signed on 17 January 2012 covered a large new terminal, a cargo terminal, parking and runway reconstruction, and Samara hosted matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Skytrax awarded the airport four stars in 2017.
Runways at Samara Airport
The main runway, 15/33, is concrete and measures 3,001 metres (9,846 feet) long and 45 metres wide. It carries most of the traffic and is equipped for Category IIIA instrument landings, which matters in the region’s thick winter fog. A second runway, 05/23, is asphalt and measures 2,554 metres (8,379 feet) long and 60 metres wide. It has been under reconstruction and is used far less.
The open steppe around the field makes for straightforward approaches, but winters are harsh. Snow, ice and low visibility test crews from November to March. Several serious accidents have happened here. On 8 March 1965 Aeroflot Flight 513 crashed after takeoff, killing 30 of 39 aboard. On 20 October 1986 Aeroflot Flight 6502, a Tupolev Tu-134, crashed on landing with 70 of 94 people killed, after the captain had bet he could land with the cockpit window curtained. On 17 March 2007 UTair Flight 471 crash landed in fog, killing seven.
Terminals and Airlines
Terminal A at Samara Airport, built in 1993 and renovated in 1998 and 2004, was long the main building, handling both domestic and international departures. The modernisation programme added a much larger terminal of at least 35,000 square metres. A small business terminal opened in 2004, and a cargo terminal can handle 200 tonnes an hour.
Aeroflot and its low cost subsidiary Pobeda dominate the Moscow routes, with Rossiya serving St Petersburg. S7 Airlines, Ural Airlines, Utair, Red Wings and Smartavia fly a mix of domestic routes, and Azur Air operates holiday charters. Sukhoi Superjet 100s mix with Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 aircraft. Western airlines have not served Samara Airport since 2022, when sanctions and airspace closures cut European links.
Routes and Destinations
Moscow is the backbone of the network, with flights to Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky. St Petersburg, Sochi and Yekaterinburg are other important domestic routes. Business travel to and from the region’s car, aerospace and energy industries keeps demand steady all year.
Internationally, the focus has shifted east and south. Tashkent serves the large Uzbek community working in the region, and Dubai links the Gulf. Seasonal charters fly to Egypt, Turkey and Thailand for sun seekers escaping the Volga winter. Cargo moves through the dedicated terminal. Samara Airport now looks very different from its pre 2022 network.
Getting to and from Samara Airport
The airport is a long way from the city. Taxis and ride hailing cars take around 45 minutes to an hour to central Samara, depending on traffic on the M5 highway. Tolyatti is a similar distance in the other direction. Agree the price in advance or book through an app.
Regular buses and minibuses run to Samara and Tolyatti and are the cheapest sensible option, though the trip takes longer than a taxi. A suburban train to Samara ran for some years from 2008 but was later withdrawn, so road transport carries almost all passengers today. Parking is available beside the terminal, including covered spaces.
Spotting and Photography
Samara Airport offers open views across flat countryside, and the arrivals on runway 15/33 can be seen from surrounding roads. The traffic is a snapshot of modern Russian aviation, with Superjets, Airbus and Boeing jets registered in Russia and occasional older types on charter work. Winter scenes of snow covered aprons and deicing can be striking.
Photography near Russian airports carries real risks. Security services treat aviation as sensitive, especially since 2022, and visitors have been detained for taking pictures. Stay well clear of fences, avoid photographing military or government aircraft and follow every instruction from police. In practice, photography from inside the terminal is the safest option.
What Comes Next
Later development phases have proposed more terminal space, a hotel, a business centre, multi storey parking and a rail link. How much of that will be built is uncertain, given Russia’s economic pressures and sanctions on aircraft and parts. Domestic and Central Asian traffic should keep growing slowly.
The verdict: Samara Airport has modern infrastructure and steady demand, but its international future depends on politics far beyond the Volga. Compare it with other Russian regional airports on the Airports of the World map.
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