Ganja International Airport

It was previously used by the Soviet Air Force.^{[citation needed]} In 1996 the airport received the status of an international airport and since then is used for civil aviation purposes.^[3]

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Arayik Harutyunyan, president of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, on 4 October 2020 stated that the Artsakh Defense Army had hit Ganja's military airport, however, Azerbaijan said no military sites were hit.^[4] Reporters of Russian channel TV Rain reported that the airport had not been hit and that the airport had been closed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Missiles hit residential buildings in the city, killing 1 person and wounding 32.^[5] On September 29, the Ministry of Defence of Armenia stated that a Turkish Air Force F-16 Viper shot down an Armenian Su-25 flying inside Armenian airspace, killing the pilot—also stating that Turkish F-16 jets had taken off earlier from Ganja airport and were assisting Azerbaijani forces in missile strikes against border regions near Vardenis in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia.^[6] In response to the Armenian claim, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, stated that "Azerbaijan doesn't have F-16s – there aren't any on our soil or in our airspace". He claimed in turn that the aforementioned Su-25 as well as another Armenian Su-25 had crashed in the air while flying towards Azerbaijan.^[7] A week later on October 7, satellite imagery was published by the New York Times Visual Investigations Team confirming the presence of two F-16 Vipers at the airport.^[8] Following the publication of the satellite imagery, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev conceded the official position regarding the F-16s' presence and that they had arrived in the country during military exercises prior to the war, but claimed they were not participating in combat.^[9][10]

In August 2021, IATA announced a newly assigned code of “GNJ”, which will reflect the city's new name. The former code of “KVD” refers to the city's previous name, Kirovabad.^[11]

The airport resides at an elevation of 1,083 feet (330 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways designated 12L/30R with an asphalt/concrete surface measuring 3,300 by 44 metres (10,827 ft × 144 ft)^[12] and non-operational 12R/30L with a concrete surface measuring 2,490 by 40 metres (8,169 ft × 131 ft). The runway designated 12R/30L has long been non-operational due to lack of maintenance and navigation equipment. Renovation and reconstruction of this concrete runway is needed due to occasional military usage of the airport.

• Transport in Azerbaijan
• List of airports in Azerbaijan