Located 8 km northwest of Atyrau in Kazakhstan, the ATMA Atyrau Airport is the lowest international commercial airport in the world. It is 22 m below sea level and is the only airport in Atyrau.
In 1994, the company named ATMA got the operational rights of the airport when it was privatised as a build and operate model. In 2007, the company completed the construction of the new terminal building along with a new, longer runway. The terminal has a total area of 2,000 square metres and can serve 600 passengers in an hour. As per data available, it was the 5th busiest airport in Kazakhstan in 2009, where 937,032 passengers passed through the airport.
The airport and its surrounding areas are crucial for Kazakhstan’s economy because of the oil exploration sites and platforms on the Caspian Sea that are located nearby. The city is the base town for the oil and construction companies of the region.
Picture Credit : Google
