MURMANSK, November 21. /TASS/. A new terminal at the Murmansk airport served the first flight on November 20. The building was decorated with northern lights to welcome first passengers, a TASS correspondent reported.
The new terminal is located next to the old building, which could not satisfy the bigger traffic and growing interest in the Arctic. After 2022, the number of passengers has been growing by more than 10% to 1,464 million. In terms of figures, the new terminal consists of 3 floors against 2 floors in the old building, 11 check-in counters in the new building and only 3 in the old one, 2 baggage claim lanes versus one, 2 business lounges instead of one, a parking for 490 cars and the area of 7,000 square meters.
"Our old terminal remains working as an international terminal. It is next to the checkpoint and will be used, I hope, to serve growing numbers of international flights. We have been working on this. We know potential partner countries where we would like to fly. I believe, in the near future we will share with you good news about our growing international route network," Novaport's Deputy CEO Alexander Korytny said at the opening ceremony.
Effective design
At the very entrance to the new terminal, passengers get into the Russian Arctic atmosphere. The facade is the image of the Khibiny, the largest mountain range on the Kola Peninsula. It is illuminated with northern lights, adding greenish-blue shades that emphasize the local landscape. The terminal's walls are decorated with paintings of the Arctic Kola landscapes, and through panoramic windows passengers and visitors may watch taking off and landing aircraft.
A small chapel is located right after check-in counters. In the so-called clean zone, in addition to gates, there is a waiting room with catering facilities, business halls, a mother and child room, and a playground for older children.
"The new terminal uses modern technical solutions. The telescopic ladders will be put into operation after the platform is reconstructed. The passenger management system, food courts and souvenir shops. The space is optimized for rapid preflight procedures. We've also paid attention to low-mobility people," Novaport told TASS.
The first flight
The first flight to the new terminal arrived in Murmansk from Moscow. The passengers were pleasantly surprised to see how they were greeted in the capital of the Russian Arctic, the region's Tourist Information Center told TASS.
"To the last moment, the first flight's passengers were unaware they would be served at the new terminal. They learned the news only as the plane was landing. The Lyubava group greeted them with folk songs right at the baggage claim area, and the passengers received souvenirs. Everyone, both tourists and locals, was impressed by this reception," the Tourist Information Center's leader Valeria Vanchikova told TASS.
According to VEB.RF's Chairman Igor Shuvalov, after commissioning, the new terminal will reach the annual capacity of three million passengers. "Murmansk is a key element of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. The new airport will serve better connection with Arctic regions and their accessibility for Russian and foreign tourists," he said.
The state-run corporation has supported construction of 17 airport terminals across the country - in Moscow (Sheremetyevo, D), St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Saratov, Sochi, Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, Novy Urengoy, Novosibirsk, Magadan, Samara, Voronezh, Ulan-Ude, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Mineralny Vody, and Murmansk. Presently, VEB.RF supports work on airport infrastructures in five cities, and eyes 12 promising projects worth 176 billion rubles ($2.2 billion).
The Murmansk Region means Arctic is close
The Murmansk airport is the region's main transport hub, the Arctic air hub, which is of strategic importance for the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. It is an economic and tourist driver for development of the Murmansk Region, to where people go to see whales, the northern lights, to visit Teriberka and to go skiing.
The statistics says that, every third visitor to the Arctic goes to the Murmansk Region. In 2024, an absolute record was set - 761,000 guests. Over first nine months of 2025, the number of tourists to the Arctic Kola grew by 8.5% to 507,500.
The new terminal can serve twice more passengers - 400 people per hour. The construction began in 2023 and was completed in 2025. The project's cost is 4.7 billion rubles ($58 million). A syndicated loan came from VEB.RF and Sberbank. Airlines, using the Murmansk airport, are: Aeroflot, Rossiya, Pobeda, Azimut, Severstal, Ikar, Red Wings, Smartavia, Nordwind and Pegas Fly.