Issyk-Kul International Airport

Issyk-Kul International Airport (IKU), originally opened in the Soviet era in the 1970s and upgraded in recent years, is a small single-terminal gateway serving the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul and nearby resort towns like Tamchy and Cholpon-Ata. As a compact regional airport it handles seasonal international charters and regular domestic flights, making it an important entry point for summer tourism. Ground connections include taxis, shared minibuses (marshrutkas) and private transfers with roughly a 20–30 minute drive to Cholpon-Ata and longer transfers to Karakol. Generally affordable for travelers, IKU is used by domestic carriers such as TezJet and Air Kyrgyzstan and by seasonal charter operators from Russia and Kazakhstan.