2001 – "Siberian Aluminum") won an auction to acquire the airport for 5.5 billion rubles. The airport in Sochi became the fourth airport in southern Russia, among the ones in Krasnodar, Anapa and Gelendzhik, operated by the Russian Asian Investment Company (RAInKo, owned by Oleg Deripaska) and "Airports of South". In 2007, Basic Element group established Basel Aero, a holding company that runs its airport business and operates all four airports . Sochi International Airport which was under renovation, opened its doors to first passengers in 2010. It was further upgraded to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee as the gateway of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games. Basic Element, together with Russia's largest bank Sberbank and Changi Airports International, operator of the Singapore airport, established a joint venture to manage airports in Krasnodar region in 2012. Under the agreement, Basic Element has 50% plus one share in the JV, Sberbank's stake is 20% minus one share while Changi Airports International holds 30%. In 2007–2013, Basic Element spent over 14 billion rubles ($410 million) on the airport's renovation. A modernized airport's building features a 65,000-sq.m terminal with an advanced 450-m long boarding gallery adjacent to the airport, 10 boarding bridges ensuring a comfortable access to the aircraft, a 4,000-sq.m VIP Terminal with the handling capacity of 80 passengers per hour that hosted IOC delegates and other high-profile guests at the Winter Olympics. New Zealand minted coins in 2010 as part of the 'Olympic capitals' collection, and placed a picture of a plane taking off from the Sochi airport on the "tails" of a new silver dollar coin. Due to airspace closures and aircraft seizure risks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aeroflot announced in March 2022 that it would open a hub at Sochi using Rossiya-operated Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft to serve 17 short-haul international destinations in 6 countries, with an aim to facilitate connecting traffic to and from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Krasnoyarsk. Infrastructure Runways Sochi International Airport has two artificial runways; combined with its taxiways network it has a total length of 4310 meters and a width of 40.5 m of paved tarmac. The platform and parking lot have a total area of 218 square meters, with spaces for more than 1000 cars. Because of the presence of natural obstacles (mountains) to the north and north-east of the airport, take off and landing are only possible on