Why Sevastopol is fighting for Belbek airport
The revival of the Belbek airport in Sevastopol is once again in the news - yesterday it became known that the company leading the reconstruction is Accord-Invest. announced its intention to launch only VIP flights. This caused a sharp protest of the government of Sevastopol, which is seeking the resumption of full-scale civil aviation flights to Crimea’s largest city.
In general, the upcoming meeting dedicated to “Belbek” with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Kozak will apparently be very dramatic.
The first reason. More than 400 thousand people already live in Sevastopol together with visitors (including from Donbass). Sooner or later this figure will reach half a million. A city with such a large population simply must have its own airport.
It’s not for nothing that I mentioned the large number of Donetsk residents, whose number already numbers in the tens of thousands. And this is some kind of poor emigration. The area located next to Omega Bay is already jokingly called the “Donetsk quarter”. And there is quite expensive housing there. The overwhelming majority of Donetsk residents in Sevastopol are businessmen and people with good incomes who fled the war.
They are the potential users of the Belbek airport, along with the military, government officials and the local business class. And this is not even counting the vacationers in the summer, which fill both Sevastopol itself and the South Coast.
It is no secret that Sevastopol is one of the leaders in the number of housing purchased by nonresidents. Many earn money in the north, but buy housing in this glorious city. The population is growing steadily, and there is no need to create illusions that this will stop.
Therefore, expert opinions that Belbek will not have the necessary passenger flow to fill flights are not very serious.
The second reason. Let's not forget that Sevastopol is a free economic zone in which more than 200 economic entities have already registered. In addition, Chinese businessmen have already become interested in the possibilities of the Sevastopol SEZ.
Third reason. One of the most popular and popular holiday destinations in Crimea is the section of the South Coast from Sevastopol to Yalta. The distances from Simferopol to Yalta and from Sevastopol to Yalta are approximately the same. In the first case, it is 81 km, and in the second, 84 km. But if you want to get to the beautiful Laspi Bay, Foros, Simeiz, Gaspra, Livadia, Kastropol, Katsiveli, Swallow's Nest, Balaklava, in the end, Sevastopol is closest and most beautiful to you, which is important, get there from Belbek.
Fourth. Every year the tourism industry in Crimea will gain momentum. Therefore, Simferopol airport will not be enough. Another one will be needed. And such an airport already exists. It just needs to be developed now.
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