A chartered Boeing 757 took off from the Grozny airport Monday morning, carrying more than 200 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in the first international flight to leave the Chechen capital in 15 years.
The federal government gave the airport the right to handle international flights on Nov. 10, a half-year after officially ending the second war in Chechnya by calling off counterterrorism operations there. The airport can host international passenger flights and commercial cargo.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who had pushed for international status for the airport, said a number of regular and chartered international flights would be offered from Chechnya in the near future, according to his personal web site.
“Today’s event is a great success for our people,” said Kadyrov, who arrived at the airport to watch pilgrims check in for the first flight at 3 a.m.
The first seven flights from the Grozny airport will be to Saudi Arabia, taking about 2,000 Chechen residents on a traditional Muslim pilgrimage there.
Kadyrov thanked President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for granting the international status to the airport and called on the pilgrims to pray for peace in Chechnya while at Islamic sacred sites in Saudi Arabia.
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