Minsk National Airport, formerly known as Minsk-2 (, ; ), is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km (26 mi) to the east of the capital Minsk, geographically lying in the territory of Smalyavichy Raion but administratively being subordinated to Kastrychnitski District of Minsk. The airport serves as hub of the Belarusian flag carrier Belavia and the cargo carriers TAE Avia, Genex and Rubystar Airways. History Early years Construction of Minsk-2 airport began in 1977. In 1979, a new runway 3,640-m-long and 60-m-wide became operational. By 1981 the Minsk-2 aerodrome was able to handle aircraft and the airport opened in 1982. The first passenger flight was operated with a Tupolev Tu-134. On 1 July 1983, the Second Joint Aviation Division of Minsk was established in accordance with the decision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of USSR. This date is considered as the airport foundation day. Development since the 1990s Regular flights began in 1983; by 1990 passenger traffic reached 2.2 million passengers. From 1991, the number of flights began to decline due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and other consequent changes. By 1997, the number of the passengers was 516,000, in 1998 – 480,000, in 2000 – only 400,000 passengers. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the first million passengers was handled by Minsk National Airport in 2008. Due to the substantial growth in passenger traffic, 2008 became a significant mark for the airport. In May 2019, a second runway, 13L/31R was opened. In 2020, the growth was stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Additionally from May 2021 all Belarusian airlines, mainly Belavia, have been banned from operating into the European Union as part of newly established sanctions after the Ryanair Flight 4978 incident. Likewise, several European airlines cancelled their Minsk services over the conflict, e.g., Lufthansa. On 9 August 2021, the US has added the airport director Vyacheslav Khoroneko to the SDN list. Role in the 2021 border crisis In 2021, the airport became a major hub for illegal migration to the European Union. It was reported that several fly-by-night companies and two travel agencies got full access to the international zone of the airport and started to offer agent services for arrived migrants issuing visas on arrival. It was noted that these companies enjoyed the patronage of the airport staff and authorities, while other travel agencies were not allowed to provide