The history of Luhansk Airport begins in 1946, when in order to improve service in the regions, the
Ukrainian SSR began work on the 285th aviation division at the site. Luhansk Airport opened in 1964, with its construction accelerated by the involvement of multiple organizations in the
Luhansk region. In 1974 the airport established the 99th flying division including 6
AN-24 planes, and since 1989, 2
TU–154–B2 planes. By the 1980s there were 100 daily departures, going to almost 70 cities of the
Soviet Union, transporting at least 1200 passengers. Following the collapse of the
Soviet Union, in 2005-2006, the airport and runway were reconstructed, allowing it to take
AN-124 aircraft,
Airbus A320’s, and
Boeing 737’s. By 2013, there were regular scheduled flights to
Kyiv, Moscow, and even charter flights to Turkey and Greece. parked at Lugansk Airport, with the terminal visible in the background.
Closure and destruction Due to the
pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, airports in the Donbas region were closed, including
Mariupol,
Donetsk, and Luhansk International Airports. As of April 2014, Ukrainian forces were stationed there as part of the Anti-Terrorist Operation against the
Luhansk People’s Republic. A fierce battle for the airport started on June 8, 2014, when Ukrainian forces were blockaded at the site by LPR forces. On June 11, the airport was officially closed. The Ukrainian Military attempted to create an air bridge to supply the besieged forces using 3 Il-76’s from the
25th Transport Aviation Brigade, in which one
Ilyushin Il-76 (Registration: 76777) was shot down on June 14, 2014, resulting in the deaths of 49 Ukrainians. On the night of September 1, the last remaining Ukrainian soldiers left the ruined airport, after 146 days of defending. On September 4, the airport finally fell to the separatists. The airport terminal had been completely demolished by 2015, and eventually in 2019, a road was built over the rubble, where a museum of
Luhansk People's Republic military equipment now sits on the runway. In 2022, Russia reportedly set up a helicopter base on the site of former Luhansk International Airport. As of August 2023, the
Russian Air Force has begun basing
Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters at the airport apron and runway, to help support its troops its ongoing
invasion of Ukraine. On October 17, 2023, as a part of
Operation Dragonfly, the Ukrainian military struck the airport with
MGM-140 ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles, leading to the destruction of multiple helicopters of the Russian Air Force. ==Airlines and destinations==