Direct air service opens between Magadan and Harbin

MAGADAN, July 6 (Itar-Tass) - For the first time in Kolyma's history
planes have started to fly from Magadan to the Chinese city of Harbin - a
new airline serviced by the Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane of the Yakutia
air company has been opened. On Monday, the airliner arrived from Harbin
to Magadan and on Tuesday it took passengers on the route to China.
"I am certain that many will like this flight," governor of the
Magadan region Nikolai Dudov said at a ceremony devoted to the opening of
the new airline. "The comfortable airliner will in three hours airlift
people from Magadan to Harbin - it is a good opportunity for all Kolyma
residents to get to the neighbouring country without transfers and
transit," he added.
Residents of the Magadan region had earlier to travel from China to
Kolyma with tiresome transfers in Khabarovsk or Vladivostok.
According to commercial director of the Yakutia air company Grigory
Reshetnikov, the decision on the flight performing was made after a
proposal made by the governor of the Magadan region to the company's
leadership to expand the flights' geography. "We have accepted the
governor's proposal, as we look upon the Magadan region's administration
as a reliable partner. It is a charger flight so far, as we do not expect
a major passenger flow this year, but this cooperation sphere has major
prospects, and if the Kolyma or Chinese authorities or other countries
make requests on the air service development in the future, we are ready
to consider them," Reshetnikov said.
The flights of passenger airliners between Magadan and Harbin this
year will be performed once a week.
Magadan is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma
region. It is the administrative centre of Magadan Oblast (since 1953), in
the Russian Far East. Founded in 1929 on the site of an earlier settlement
from the 1920s, it was granted the status of town in 1939. From 1932 to
1953 it was the administrative centre of the Dalstroy concern and its
corrective labour camp system. It lies in Nagayevo Bay in the Gulf of
Tauisk. Population: 114,873 (2008 est.); 99,399 (2002 Census); 151,652
(1989 Census). Shipbuilding and fishing are the major industries. The town
has a seaport (fully navigable from May to December) and a small
international airport, Sokol Airport. There is also a small airport
nearby, Magadan 13. The unpaved Kolyma Highway leads from Magadan to the
rich gold-mining region of the upper Kolyma River and then on to Yakutsk.
In 1932, Magadan was made Dalstroy's capital, and served as a port for
exporting gold and other metals mined in the Kolyma region. Its size and
population grew quickly as facilities were rapidly developed for the
expanding mining activities in the area. Town status was granted on July
14, 1939.
During the Stalin era, Magadan was a major transit centre for
prisoners sent to labour camps. The operations of Dalstroy, a vast and
brutal forced-labour gold-mining concern, were the main economic driver of
the city for many decades during Soviet times.
Of the 12,000 Poles sent to Magadan and environs between 1940 and
1941, most POWs, only 583 men returned, released in 1942 to join the
Polish free force of Polish II Corps under General Wladyslaw Anders. WWII
survivors became residents of the US, Britain and other countries.
In May 1944, US Vice President Henry Wallace's official visit failed
to understand the true nature of Magadan. The watchtowers had been
temporarily taken down and the prisoners were locked up, while a model
farm was set up for his inspection. He took an instant liking to his
secret policeman host, admired handiwork done by prisoners, and later
glowingly pronounced the city "a combination TVA and Hudson's Bay Company."
Magadan is very isolated. The nearest major city is Yakutsk, 2,000
kilometres (1,200 mi) away via an unpaved road which is best used in the
winter, especially since there is no bridge over the Lena River at Yakutsk
(the choices are: ferry from Nizhny Bestyakh in the summer, when rest of
the road may not be passable due to standing water, or over the ice in the
dead of winter).
The principal sources of income for the local economy are gold mining
and fisheries. Recently, gold production has declined, although future
prospects look good. Fishing production, although improving from year to
year, is still well below the allocated quotas, apparently as a result of
an ageing fleet. Other local industries include pasta and sausage plants
and a distillery. Although farming is difficult owing to the harsh
climate, there are many public and private farming enterprises.
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