The Rebirth of Stepanavan Airport

Stepanavan Airport

Stepanavan Airport is located very close to the village Getavan. According to our sources, the last flight from Stepanavan Airport was made in 2005. In 2014, a reconstruction of Stepanavan and Kapan airports was being planned, however, in the case of Stepanavan Airport it all got limited with new fencing only. The runway is approximately one and a half kilometers long and according to the locals, the airport previously hosted passenger flights on aircrafts such as AN-2 and even Yak 40 and AN-12. 

Our Journey

The thought of flying in Stepanavan on our newly purchased Aeros 2 Ultralight Aircraft was with us since a while already. The only problem was of course the distance of Stepanavan Airport from Yerevan (around 145km). After flying in Ararat region for a while we decided that it is going to be much safer and more efficient for our learning process to fly in the airport of Stepanavan. Before our arrival we had some doubts about the quality and the condition of the runway, as none of our aviator friends had made flights from this airport. Fortunately, we got positively surprised when we arrived. 

The lenghth of the runway allowed us to do excercises that we could not even think of at our previous location in Ararat region. The local people and officials greeted us with so much readiness to help that we immediately knew that we are going to fly here very often.

Conclusion

Armenia has a few abandoned airports like these that can be used for the benefit of the people and our country. With a little more support from the government and the citizens, these airports can be used for the evolving small aviation in Armenia.