July 30, 1959 — a Delivery-Acceptance Act was signed. In this historic document the military party declared delivery of Sheremetyevsky Aerodrome, and the civil party — its acceptance.
The DAA listed all of the aerodrome’s facilities, including a runway with major and connecting taxiways, aprons with aircraft group ramps, drainage facilities, an airfield, internal and access motorways, a Central Control Tower, a technical building on the aerodrome yard, a POL ready-storage, 11 transformer substations and a backup power station, a telecommunication hub and an aircraft landing system, special-purpose motor vehicles, residential buildings in the town of Bukino, buildings and structures built for the aerodrome’s own use and using its own resources. The DAA was supplemented with a record of buildings and structures under construction which were subject to transfer to the civil air fleet after the completion of construction.
On August 3-4, 1959, the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and the Head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet approved the DAA. From this day Sheremetyevsky Aerodrome ceased to be an operational site for military aviators. It turned into a launching pad for building a new set of facilities for the future Sheremetyevo International Airport.In August 1959, by a Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the Sheremetyevsky Central Aerodrome of the Air Force ceased its existence. By resolution of the government, it was transferred to the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. A new airport for the capital city was to be built on the basis of the military aerodrome.
In July 1959,
a Tu-104 from London with N.S. Khrushchev on board landed at the aerodrome.
25 to 30 people — members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, representatives of Sovmin USSR, the Supreme Council of the USSR, commanders of the Ministry of Defense and the Main Directorate of Civil Aviation — gathered to meet the Soviet leader.
Khrushchev told his colleagues about England: «It is not customary there, as it is with us, that every leader is allocated an individual plane. Capitalists can count money, no doubt. Leaders fly there by civil aircraft as first-class passengers, and nobody is embarrassed or hurt. We should think about it too. We should think about good airports, a good level of service. We’ll transfer the aerodrome to the Civil Air Fleet. Let them complete construction. The Commander-in-Chief must see to that. A convenient aerodrome for the 2nd AKDON should be found and all military aircraft should be transferred there.»
On August 11, 1959 a
Tu-104 liner took off in Leningrad and landed at Sheremetyevsky Aerodrome, where the airport divisions rendered a full range of commercial and technical services for the first time. This date is considered the birth date of the airport.
On August 12, 1959 the newspaper Sovetskaya Rossia reported: «A new airport — Sheremetyevo — is located twenty-six kilometers from the capital on Leningradskoe Shosse.
March 2, 1960 — by a Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the main aerodrome of the air force was transferred to the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet for construction of Sheremetyevo Airport.
In 1960 the administration of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR approved the Master Plan for the strategic development of the airport.
In 1959 the State Planning and Surveying Research Institute of the Civil Aviation Aeroproekt was commissioned to design a new airport capable of providing air transport services and develop priority areas for launching production.
Per the initial plan, the airport territory was divided into two sectors. Sector 31 (the northern part of the aerodrome) included the Central Control Tower, POL storages, warehouses, a boiler house, technical buildings and facilities as well as a residential and service infrastructure (kitchens, laundry facility, bathhouse, cafeterias, etc.). Sector No. 2 (the southern part of the aerodrome) contained an apron with an air terminal designated for governmental air services, a service building, and several other service buildings and structures. The two sectors were connected by an aerodrome sector which included a runway, major and connecting taxiways, ramps and aprons. The utmost tasks that needed to be done above all included the replacement of aerodrome lighting, construction of an air terminal on the site of sector No. 1, a kitchen for preparing onboard meals, a hotel for passengers, a baggage claim, a line maintenance hangar, auxiliary units, buildings for technical services and other facilities necessary to insure regular flights.
On June 1, 1960 the first international flight on the route Sheremetyevo-Schonefeld was made by an Il‑18 belonging to the Vnukovo air group. Since then, Sheremetyevo International Airport has become Moscow’s calling card for foreign passengers.
June 2, 1960 — official opening of the airport complex.
The passenger pavilion was put into operation on that date. A two-story brick building was erected on a site with an area of 1,820 m². Elegant marble stairways located on the perimeter of the building seemed to elevate it over the terminal square and the apron. The roof of the building was unusual. Along the perimeter there was an observation deck for passengers and those welcoming them, from which one can have a full view of the aerodrome. The access to the observation deck was from the third floor covered by a canopy. From the side of the terminal square the canopy read «Airport,» and from the side of the apron — «Moscow.» In time, a banner reading «International Airlines» in Russian and English was added to the two words on the gallery balustrade, and in 1964 when Sheremetyevo-1 air terminal was put into operation, this sign was replaced by «Domestic Airlines.»
On August 18, 1960 the 63rd aircraft division (comprised of seven
Il-18 and fourIl-14 aircraft) and the 207th aircraft division, comprising11 Tu-104 passenger jet liners, were transferred to Sheremetyevo.On August 19, 1960 the crew of the 63rd aircraft division carried out an international flight on the route Sheremetyevo-Bucharest-Sophia.
On May 10, 1960 two aircraft divisions of the Directorate of Polar Aviation, comprised
of LI-2,
Il-2, Il-14, An-2, Tu-4 planes andMi-2 and Mi-4 helicopters were transferred to the Sheremetyevo aerodrome from the town of Tushino.
In September 1960, aircraft divisions started to obtain
In 1960, over 270,000 passengers and 15,000 tons of mail and cargo were handled at Sheremetyevo Airport, out of which 170,000 passengers and 11,000 tons of mail and cargo were carried on international airlines.
On July 10, 1962, a new route, Moscow — Havana — Moscow, was opened.
The round-trip distance for the flight totaled 31,000 km. It was Aeroflot’s most lengthy and complicated aerial route. It ran over Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean, in geographic latitudes with hard, drastically changing weather conditions. Regular
On September 18, 1962 for the first time in the history of civil aviation, a group flight
of Mi-4 helicopters was carried out into the depths of the Arctic without an escort of planes.On February 11, 1964 the Head of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet adopted an order, «On Organizing Transport Administration of International Air Lines,» to be comprised of Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport and an international aviation group of the Moscow Administration of Transport Aviation, based in Sheremetyevo.
On March 4, 1964 the 210th aircraft division
of Tu-114 planes was set up within the Transport Administration of International Airlines.On September 3, 1964, Sheremetyevo-1 Terminal accepted its first passengers. The building became the best among its peer domestic facilities. The boarding building, a dominant architectural object, got the nickname of «shot glass» and became a highlight of the airport for years to come.
A glass and concrete air terminal, 200 m long and 40 m wide, is able to serve 880 passengers an hour. A huge air terminal for that time, exceeding 100,000 m³, allowed placing
In 1964, planes from 18 foreign airlines made regular flights to Sheremetyevo, and up to a dozen aircraft of various types landed at the aerodrome. By the end of 1964, air service on domestic and foreign airlines doubled, reaching 822,000 passengers and 23,000 tons of mail and cargo. Just international airlines alone carried 245,000 passengers and 12,000 tons of mail and cargo.
By the end of 1965 Aeroflot had concluded contracts on air service with 47 countries, to 40 of which crews of the Transport Administration of International Airlines carried out regular flights. The absolute majority of international flights were made from Sheremetyevo Airport.
On November 4, 1966 the crew
of a Tu-114 made the first regular flight from Moscow to Tokyo.On October 14, 1967 the crew
of an Il-62 made the first flight to Paris.On October 17, 1967 regular flights
by Il-62 planes began on the route Sheremetyevo — Delhi.On November 20, 1967 the first flight from Sheremetyevo Airport to New York was made.
In 1969, 1.5 million passengers were carried, and 715,000 passengers and 22,000 tons of mail and cargo was carried by international airlines.