UTair (UT, Khanty-Mansiysk) has commenced scheduled flights to the remote Siberian town of Sabetta, located on the Yamal Peninsula, the carrier says. The twice-weekly flights, which operate direct to Moscow Vnukovo on-board B767-200(ER) aircraft, come almost a month after the airport first opened its doors to commercial traffic with Yamal Airlines (YC, Salekhard) flights from Novy Urengoy.
As part of the Yamal LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) project, a joint-venture between Russia's largest independent natural gas producer, Novatek, and the Russian government, the airport will act primarily as a conduit for plant workers handling 150'000 passengers this year though this should double by 2017 when the plant is fully operational.
