The 600 local inhabitants in Dikson will now be offered helicopter transport to the south, newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.
The small Arctic town located on the Kara Sea coast by the mouth of the Yenisey River is fully dependent on supplies from the south. Until now, aircrafts have once a week shipped passengers and goods to and from the town. Now, the lifeline to the south is cut by the State Aviation Control Agency, which on 16 September announced that the local airport does not meet federal standards and therefore must be closed. Over the last years, bigger parts of the airport runway have dissolved making landing increasingly hazardous. An estimated 250 million RUB is needed for a necessary upgrade.
Meanwhile, the locals will have to do with helicopter transport operated by the Taimyr Aviation Company. Reportedly, also ships from Yenisey port of Dudinka plan to stop in the remote village.
