Spotlight on Sochi transportation

Incredible picture of Sochi taken on February 10, 2014 - during the Olympic games

One of the Expedition 38 crew members aboard the International Space Station downlinked this vertical 600mm night view of Sochi, Russia, which clearly shows the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics while they are just a few days under way. Fisht Stadium where the Opening Ceremonies were held on Feb. 7 is easily recognizable as the bright circular structure.

Photo credit: NASA (click photo for full information)

With all eyes on Sochi. we thought we'd share a bit more on Sochi Airport and transportation in the region. Afterall, the region will be the centre of attention in a few weeks with the start of the Paralympics. If you missed it, check out our recent blog post: Getting to/from Sochi Airport... with a little luck ☘



Takeoff of Russian TU-154 airplane from Sochi international airport.(2007)

We love the photo above, even though it is not recent. It's just a great planespotting moment, with the Sochi area as it "was".

For a much more recent perspective, check out this incredible satellite image from NASA, taken in 2013, as Sochi's expanded infrastructure was nearing completion:


Interesting view of Sochi Airport!

2013 image of Adler and the newly created Olympic Coastal Cluster.

This false color satellite image reveals a largely agricultural area that was transformed into the
Coastal Olympic Cluster with the nearby Olympic Village and Rail Station with transport to
the Mountain Cluster. A spanking new breakwater structure was installed to create a harbor
for cruise ships. The airport also received an expansion to handle the increased traffic.

Caption and image provided by Tim Assal, US Geological Survey – Fort Collins Science Center
Credit: NASA/Landsat (click photo for full information)

The following images were all found using a Creative Commons search using either "Sochi" or "Сочи". Can't say we know exactly what the story is behind each image (some have captions in Russian!), but they all have something to do with Sochi and transportation.

Putin's plane, at Sochi Airport in 2012



Church at Sochi Airport



Sponsor ad-wrap on cruise ship in Sochi port during the Olympics



More sponsorship ads... and a Sochi bus!!



Check out the blimp

And, finally, a few Sochi Airport tweets....



Notice the missing gold? This was pre-games...

 

 

And a little bonus....


Clock in Sochi train terminal, taken in 2007 (still there?)

Getting to/from Sochi Airport... with a little luck ♣

How to get to Sochi from the airport? Is there a Sochi Airport train? Is car hire at Sochi Airport possible?
Just some of the questions on the minds of travellers headed to the Sochi 2014 Games...

Welcome to Сочи (Sochi). We are trying to help you get to and from Sochi Airport, but we're hoping for a little luck.

Luck, because information is more scarce than we would expect for an airport paying such a central role in a major world event. Case in point: the Sochi Olympic Games open in less than a month, and if you search for "Sochi airport official", this is what you get:

Oh dear. While we appreciate that the Games' Russian hosts may not hold communications to the same standard as the West, we surely expected a higher requirement from the IOC. Well, perhaps they have bigger fish to fry at the moment.

That makes our job even more important than ever, in making our Sochi Airport (AER) Transportation Guide as complete as possible. The only problem is, that source information truly is lacking. We have been scouring the web, but we aren't finding much, or we're finding conflicting information. But we are putting the best information here:

• Read the Sochi Airport (AER) Transportation Guide

We are eager to have our guide as complete as possible, to help as many people as we can, but we're in the dark here. If you have seen, or you have, more or different information on ground transportation at Sochi Airport, including special alternate arrangements during the Games, please add your comments below.

 

Please leave your Sochi Airport transportation tips in the comments below!

On the subject of luck, perhaps it is only fitting that we are calling on luck to help us out here, as Sochi is considered to be a very ♣ lucky ♣ place:

The most famous Russian saying about the city is "If I could read the cards, I would live in Sochi" ("Знал бы прикуп - жил бы в Сочи"). Initially coming from the Preference card game, this saying shows the association of Sochi and its inhabitants with luck, moreover, with an accidental and unpredictable fortune.

Source: WikiVoyage

Inside Сочи Airport (aka Sochi Airport)

To help you with your luck in getting to and around Sochi, we've listed some additional links below, but here's our favourite:


Is Отменен a good thing? (no, your flight is cancelled)
What Посадка does mean? (your flight is boarding... hurry!)
It says Посадка закончена, should I run? (don't bother, you missed your flight!)
For more, see this Russian Flight Information Board Translation Guide

Official Sochi 2014 travel, transportation and airport information:

• Sochi 2014: Transportation System
• Sochi 2014: Travel in Sochi
• Basel Aero Krasnodar Krai website - what we believe to be the official guide to several airports in the region, including Sochi (some good info, but the combined format is confusing)
• Sochi-Airport.com - for entertainment, not accuracy (this is the 'official' site, last updated in 2010)

If you are visiting Sochi, you may find our Moscow airport ground transportation guides helpful:

• Moscow Domodedovo International Airport (DME) Transportation Guide
• Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) Transportation Guide
• Moscow Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) Transportation Guide
• Tip: Most international passengers fly into either DME or SVO
• Tip: all 3 share an IATA city code: MOW

Related resources:

• Russia Travel Information: country profile, electrical, visas, tipping, advisories
• Airport Arrival Advice
• Overseas Travel Medical Considerations