# Chelyabinsk Balandino Airport (CEK)

> Chelyabinsk, RU · IATA: CEK · ICAO: USCC · Medium Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `CEK` |
| ICAO | `USCC` |
| City | Chelyabinsk |
| Country | RU |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 234 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 55.30580, 61.50330 |

## Description

Ural Airlines and Yamal Airlines both use Chelyabinsk Kurchatov Airport (CEK/USCC) as a secondary base, and their passenger services carry most of the freight moving through this southern Ural gateway. The airport handled about 2.16 million passengers in 2025, of which roughly 1.9 million were domestic and 247,000 international, the latter up 31.5 percent on 2024, spread over 25 direct routes. A cargo terminal is in place with acceptance and release around the clock, but the volumes are regional in character and no significant scheduled freighter programme is documented. Shipments for the region's pipe mills, steel plants and engineering works therefore tend to route through Yekaterinburg Koltsovo (SVX) some 200 kilometres north, the larger cargo airport in the Urals, or through the Moscow airports, with a road feeder leg down the M5. Operator Novaport is preparing a second terminal phase including a new international building. Sanctions shape the practical picture: DHL, FedEx and UPS have not served Russia since 2022 and EU and North American carriers avoid Russian airspace, so exporters in the EU, the UK or Switzerland must screen every consignment against current export control and sanctions lists.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/chelyabinsk-balandino-airport-cek](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/chelyabinsk-balandino-airport-cek)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/chelyabinsk-balandino-airport-cek](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/chelyabinsk-balandino-airport-cek)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/chelyabinsk-balandino-airport-cek/llm-summary*