| Alykel Airport | |
| Nativename: | Аэропорт Алыкель |
| Iata: | NSK |
| Icao: | UOOO |
| Pushpin Map: | Russia Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Pushpin Label: | NSK |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai |
| Type: | Public |
| City-Served: | Norilsk |
| Location: | Norilsk, Russia |
| Hub: | |
| Elevation-F: | 574 |
| Elevation-M: | 175 |
| Coordinates: | 69.31°N 87.3333°W |
| Website: | www.aeroport-norilsk.ru |
| R1-Number: | 01/19 |
| R1-Length-F: | 11,254 |
| R1-Length-M: | 3,430 |
| R1-Surface: | Concrete |
Alykel International Airport (Russian: Международный аэропорт Алыкель) is a large international airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located west of Norilsk. Alykel is the only functional airfield near Norilsk. It handles medium-sized aircraft and is serviced by 24-hour operations. Since it is capable of handling wide-body jets, it is a diversion airport on Polar route 1.[1] [2] Since Norilsk does not have road or railroad connections to the rest of the country, the airport is the main gateway to the city.
It was constructed in 1964, when US reconnaissance satellites reported a new airfield with a 6000x runway 16nmi west of Norilsk.[3] This allowed the use of Norilsk as a staging base for Soviet bombers to reach the United States. This role continues to this day, with caretaker status provided by the Russian Air Force's OGA (Arctic Control Group). Norilsk also was served by interceptor aircraft under the 57 IAP (57th Guards Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO), which in 1991 had 24 Sukhoi Su-15TM aircraft.[4]
The airport received international status on 1 February 2023.[5]
An electrified rail link Norilsk-Oktyabrskaya - Airport was operated from 1967-11-22 to 1998.[8]