Top most beautiful airport terminals. The most beautiful airport in the post-Soviet space. Queen Tamara Airport. Georgia

And if it weren't for Singapore, the Baku airport named after Heydar Aliyev could be called the most beautiful in the world.
I have not yet seen many airports, but among the countries of the former USSR, this airport is the most beautiful of those that I have ever visited.

Traveling around Azerbaijan, one conclusion can be drawn - the state has put transport problems in the rank of priority. In just a few years, modern air terminal complexes have appeared in the country, runways have been updated and the air fleet has been modernized.

The special pride of the country is the new air harbors. Two years ago, a new terminal of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport was built, four new airports in the regions were put into operation earlier, and two more were modernized. All segments of aviation transport are developing equally effectively in Azerbaijan: passenger and cargo transportation, business aviation and helicopter operations.

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The airport has two terminals - old and new. Previously, the air harbor was called "Bina International Airport" (after the name of a suburb of Baku), but was renamed in 2004 in honor of the third president of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev.

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The new terminal complex of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport was put into operation on April 23, 2014.
From the outside, the airport, like many buildings in Baku, does not have straight lines, and the structure itself is streamlined and flowing.

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The Heydar Aliyev Baku Airport is very surprising. Even those who have been to different airports in the world, recognized as the best and most beautiful.

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The total area of the new airport complex, capable of serving 6 million passengers a year, is 65,000 square meters.

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The airport is 25 kilometers from the city and it will take you 20-30 minutes to get to the capital.

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The airport is even more beautiful inside than outside. On the second floor, after passport control, you will find huge wooden "cocoons" inside which there are coffee shops and shops, as well as beautiful chairs - cages, like for large parrots.

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For everyone, without exception, the airport causes the most positive emotions.

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As in Russian airports, there are frame scanners and x-rays for luggage at the entrance.
The main emphasis was placed on the comfortable stay of passengers. As a result, numerous cozy cafes and restaurants, Duty free shops, mother and child rooms, VIP & CIP halls appeared. The number of passengers served per hour has almost doubled.

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The halls are equipped with more than 2,000 comfortable seats, 150 monitors providing timely information to passengers, 40 check-in counters, 19 boarding gates, 13 of which are telescopic ladders, 30 escalators, 21 wide and transparent elevators, with Braille on the keyboard, provided for both ordinary passengers and passengers with disabilities.

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Passengers with disabilities are also provided with specially designated places, marked with tactile signs, next to the carousels for baggage claim. In addition to all this, employees are on duty on all floors of the terminal, who can be contacted for help by passengers who have arrived at the airport for the first time.

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Last year, the airport was awarded 4 stars by SkyTrax, an influential British consulting company specializing in the study of the quality of services provided by various airlines and airports. Heydar Aliyev Airport is the second airport among the post-Soviet states to receive 4 stars.

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The building is equipped with the latest interactive control systems, such as Building Management and Lighting - allowing you to control air conditioning, ventilation and lighting, an automated sound warning system, Gate Operating System - facilitating the management of exits and Visual Docking Guidance System - guaranteeing the safe parking of aircraft in parking lots that are controlled from the terminal control center. And most importantly, the airport is equipped with tomographs of the 4th security level, since its first and most important goal is the safety and regularity of flights.

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The equipment installed in the control center makes it possible to control aircraft flights over an area of 165,000 square kilometers. The new runway is equipped with lighting systems, radio navigation equipment and radars that meet the highest ICAO category.

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In addition to the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, other air harbors of the country have undergone a deep modernization: Ganja, Nakhichevan, Gabala, Lenkorn, Zagatala.

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Azerbaijan Airlines, the national carrier of the country AZAL, accounts for almost 80% of passenger traffic in Azerbaijan. The company has a rich history that dates back to 1923, when the first postal and passenger flights between Baku and Tbilisi on German Junkers aircraft began to operate.
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Now AZAL is the largest carrier in the CIS with a total fleet approaching 30 modern liners of various types. Last year, the airline was the first in the post-Soviet space to operate modern Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, which, together with the Airbus A340-500, are the flagships of AZAL, operating the longest flights in the route network, including New York, Beijing and London.

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On European routes, the airline uses comfortable aircraft manufactured by Airbus - A320 and A319. On short routes, the Brazilian Embraer E190 and Embraer E175 successfully fit in. Now the company's route network includes more than 40 destinations, both within Azerbaijan and to Europe, Asia and the United States.

And the President of Azerbaijan himself prefers the A340.

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Let's go back to the terminal.
Two cups of coffee and a baklava cake cost 10.8 manats, which is about 400 rubles for our money (do not believe the photo below).
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No one forbade photography in the departure hall.

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Photographing was forbidden in duty free - there I usually take prices.

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The prices are quite low, by the way. But it is possible that not all products are of good quality - the bottle of Jemison I bought leaked, the cork turned out to be of poor quality, which is unacceptable for Duty Free stores.

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The wine department is also encased in a "cocoon", very nice.

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The windows in the terminal are slanted almost everywhere, it is not very convenient to take pictures of the planes. But, if you try, you can find a place with straight windows and contemplate from there.

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Trees are artificial.

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Let's go up to the Sky Team business lounge, it is located on the second floor in the international departures hall.

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The hall is small but quite cozy.

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For drinks, you can approach yourself, or you can wait for the barmaid.

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Overlooking the terminal.

I have visited more than a hundred different airports in the world - from small sheds on the outskirts of the world to huge air cities of the largest metropolitan areas. But nowhere did I get such aesthetic satisfaction as in Baku. I could say that it's worth coming to Baku even to have a look at the airport, but I'm too in love with this beautiful city, so today I'm just inviting you to the Museum of Modern Art ... Which is really just an airport!

The airport in Baku cannot be directly compared with Dubai or Singapore, the scale and traffic are not the same, there are no pools or butterfly gardens, for example, but such an atmosphere has been created here in which the waiting for the flight is so cozy and comfortable, and the arrival is accompanied by surprise from what you see! I already wrote on my Facebook that the two most beautiful airports are located in two diametrically opposite points in Europe - Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport in Madrid and Heydar Aliyev Airport in Baku, we will walk around the second one today.

From the outside, the new terminal in Baku looks like most modern airports: a mix of geometry, futurism and high-tech materials - concrete, glass and metal. Inside, the Turkish architectural studio Autoban was inspired by oriental hospitality and created a lively and unusual interior with wooden cocoon elements.

The terminal itself is relatively small. At the same time, now it looks underloaded, so there are capacity reserves here.
The new complex is capable of serving 6 million passengers a year, its area is 65,000 square meters.

The airport has 4 floors and a spacious entrance hall:

The first floor serves departing passengers and baggage claim for arrivals. The second floor of the complex is provided for arriving passengers. Here is located border control, aviation security control of transit passengers, issuance of visas, as well as recreation areas for arriving passengers.

There is even a McDachnaya, but going to it in Azerbaijan is blasphemy! This is a country of gastronomic orgasm with amazing (but not always healthy) cuisine.

The construction contractor was MAPA and the equipment supplier was SITA. WAAGNER-BIRO designed and built the façade of the building, while Woods Bagot Architects and Buro Happold Engineers installed structural, seismic systems. AUTOBAN provided the interior design, VANDERLANDE provided the baggage management system, CAVAG supplied the boarding platforms and telescopic ladders, and SCHINDLER supplied the elevators and escalators.

On the third floor, provided for the departure of passengers, customs and border control are carried out. Duty free shops and cafes operate on this floor.
One of the few airports where there is no compromise between clean and dirty areas - it is equally comfortable for both the greeter and the traveler.

The four floors of the building at all levels are entwined from the inside with structures of a kind of "cocoons" made of oak veneer, and the cafes, bars, shopping kiosks in the Salam Lounges business area on the top floor were hidden by the architects in wooden hemispheres.

Just a coffee shop, but how cozy it is on the second floor!

In the arrivals and departures area there is carpet and, accordingly, it is quiet and soft. This is not so common - in Singapore, Delhi, partly in Hong Kong.

There is no terrace overlooking the platform in Baku, but there is a cafe with panoramic windows:

The base carrier is the national airline AZAL. A classic airline that has 4 stars in the SkyTrax rating on a par with Lufthansa, for example. I have flown with them several times and have always been delighted! Now the company has introduced a differentiation of tariff policy and budgetary tariffs in some directions, for example, Moscow and Istanbul.

I visited the airline and the next few reports will be devoted to interesting stories about their fleet, girls, on-board service and, most importantly, aircraft! After all, this is the first airline in the post-Soviet space, in the fleet of which there are two Dreamliners!
And in total, AZAL fleet has 25 aircraft, the average age of the company's fleet is 9 years.

Such spectacular ladies control air traffic here!
More on that next time :)

Welcome to Baku!
Haven't been here yet?! Be sure to come! A great city for a weekend at any time of the year. Here

The airport has 4 floors and a spacious entrance hall:

There is even a McDachnaya, but going to it in Azerbaijan is blasphemy! This is a country of gastronomic orgasm with amazing (but not always healthy) cuisine.

The construction contractor was MAPA and the equipment supplier was SITA. WAAGNER-BIRO designed and built the façade of the building, while Woods Bagot Architects and Buro Happold Engineers installed structural, seismic systems. AUTOBAN created the interior design, VANDERLANDE created the baggage management system, CAVAG supplied the boarding platforms and telescopic ladders, and SCHINDLER supplied the elevators and escalators.

Just a coffee shop, but how cozy it is on the second floor!

In the arrivals and departures area there is carpet and, accordingly, it is quiet and soft. This is not so common - in Singapore, Delhi, partly in Hong Kong.

There is no terrace overlooking the platform in Baku, but there is a cafe with panoramic windows:

Such spectacular ladies control air traffic here!
More on that next time :)

Welcome to Baku!
Haven't been here yet?! Be sure to come! A great city for a weekend at any time of the year. Here are all my reports from Baku.

To be continued...

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Where does the world traveler's route begin? Of course, from the airport. Here, tourists can spend long hours waiting for a flight. We invite you to see what the most beautiful airports in the world look like - this is the very case when waiting for a delayed flight is not tiring, but visually pleasing.

Dubai Airport, United Arab Emirates

Dubai International Airport is the largest in the country and perhaps the most beautiful not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world. During the construction of the airport, the most modern technologies were used. And its design is so beautiful and unusual that you can walk around the airport for hours, looking at every detail. The airport has several luxurious gardens with huge trees, fish ponds. They can be crossed over with bridges.

Barajas Airport, Terminal 4, Madrid, Spain

The fourth terminal of this Spanish airport is still quite new, since it was opened only in 2008. But thanks to him, Barajas has already taken its rightful place among the largest and most beautiful airports in the world. The throughput of the terminal is up to 35 thousand people per year. Its space is huge, and thanks to the high vaults there is a feeling of freedom - they do not put pressure on a person. And bright colors create a positive atmosphere. We advise everyone who is planning a trip to Madrid to plunge into this huge rainbow.

Changi Airport, Singapore

Singaporeans call Changi Airport the Golden Gate of the country. And they don't seem to be exaggerating. A great combination of modern design with soft sofas, carpets and beautiful plants makes this airport in Singapore very cozy and one of the most beautiful in the world. It also looks like a huge mall.

Carrasco Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay

At first glance, the architecture of the airport in the capital of Uruguay may seem simple to some. But one has only to look closely, as you begin to understand the meaning of this simplicity. Just as a child's drawing can be very non-standard, the arcuate architectural solution of Carrasco airport attracts with its unusual solution. Thanks to the 400-meter glass dome of the airport, the huge room is filled with natural light.

Marrakech Menara Airport, Morocco

At Marrakech Menara Airport, the creators managed to harmoniously combine modern technologies and trends with traditional Islamic architecture. Massive rhombuses, the hollow planes of which are filled with beautiful oriental patterns that cast an original openwork shadow.

Kuala Lumpur Airport, Malaysia

This bright and unusual airport was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. However, the architecture has a traditional Malaysian style. The "chip" of the airport can be called support towers in the form of cones. And in the evenings they are very beautifully illuminated from the inside.

Ronald Reagan Airport, Washington, USA

As beautiful as this airport in the US capital is, it is just as inconvenient. At least, that's what the pilots who fly to Ronald Reagan Airport think so. The fact is that the airspace of the airport is very limited, and there are too many government buildings around. All this makes landing so difficult that it can be compared to a futile attempt to thread a thick thread through a tiny eye of a needle. But tourists really like Ronald Reagan Airport - there are several sites in Washington from which you can watch how huge planes land every minute.