Gagarin International Airport — Saratov, Russia

GSV honors Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human in space and famously parachuted down near Saratov after his 1961 Vostok 1 mission, giving the surrounding region a permanent place in space exploration history. A new passenger terminal opened in 2019 to replace the aging Soviet-era facility long used by the city, positioning the airport as a more modern gateway to this significant Volga River industrial center. Saratov itself grew historically around trade along the river and later became a hub for aircraft and other heavy manufacturing during the Soviet period. Today the airport primarily supports domestic connections to Moscow and other Russian cities, along with occasional charter flights, serving business travelers and residents of a metropolitan area whose deep manufacturing roots continue shaping its economy today.