Авиакомпания «КАТЭКАВИА»

The incredible trip of the American to Igarka

By Dr. Theron Verdon

 

            At 163 kilometers above the Arctic Circle most thoughts might revolve around “cold.” Ask anyone to describe what you might experience at that location on the globe and invariably cold will come into the description. However, when asked about Igarka after my short trip I would describe Igarka as warm. Because the warmth, the friendliness, I felt from the people at the Igarka airport is what will stay with me.

            I travel quite often and I can judge an airline’s competence by whether I feel safe enough to sleep. On the “KATEKAVIA” flight from Krasnoyarsk to Igaraka I slept soundly during the flight. I attribute this to the sense of safety, comfortable seating, and competent crew of the flight. All of these factors made my flight to and from Igaraka a pleasure.

            We, my traveling partners and I, arrived at 1200 the 24^th of June, 2010 when it appeared to be spring. All around the airfield new life was springing from plants, and yet snow fell from the sky. It was an incredible experience to witness spring so late in the year. We boarded the bus when I discovered we had arrived a bit later than expected. I was soon lost in the experience of being in Igarka. Not a lot of Americans can say they have visited the Arctic Circle. Even fewer Americans can say the have experienced it in Siberia, Russia. As the bus neared the terminal that sense of awe was heightened as we exited the bus to enter the airport terminal.

            Built in 1948 I could see and feel the history of the terminal. The walls had a mixture of decorations from current photos taken by Airport’s director Andrew Mikhajlovich Chernov to paintings and pictures from the Soviet era. This mixture of contemporary and historical artifacts captured the essence of the Igarka area.

            We met with Andrew Mikhajlovich who immediately set out to help us with the task of preparing a documentation of the Igaraka Airport for “KATEKAVIA”. Andrew Mikhajlovich made us feel comfortable, even though our plans to visit the town of Igarka were impossible to accomplish. He then introduced us to Yuri Alekseevich Vasilev – the head of aviation safety service of the Igarka airport, who, like the director, was friendly. Though we were unable to get to town of Igarka was not going to let that hinder my experience in the Arctic Circle, so I requested a tour of the island.

            We walked to the river and looked over to Igarka. As we looked around the arctic landscape, Yuri Alekseevich told us many fascinating stories about the area. To see spring in late June was something that I will never forget. Around us, as we listened to the stories, trees were budding with new leaves, plants sprouted from the ground, and birds sang.

            We ended our tour with a lunch at the airport cantina. When I return from my visits to Russia, I always speak positively about Russian food. The cantina will elicit no different response; the food was delicious and filling.  From lunch, we toured the airfield to take some photos and watch helicopters take off.

            Our final stop for the day was the office of Andrew Mikhajlovich. In this office, he made us feel at home. He showed us photos and we drank coffee and wine. It was during one of the toasts that it dawned on me, the four of us were experiencing the global community. There we were, three Russians and an American toasting with Chilean wine in a remote part of the world. This experience all came together because of one of the main factors in creating the global community, transportation.

            Through contemporary air travel people are able to break down old barriers and collect new experiences that were uncommon not too long ago. “KATEKAVIA” is one of the engineers of the 21^st century global community. It was because of “KATEKAVIA” I could witness snow and spring in June. It was through “KATEKAVIA” I was able to experience the warmth of the citizens of Igaraka.