'Give new airport a traditional Russian name'

The new airport on scenic Iturup Island - which started work this month - is crucial to the economic development of the Kurils.

A high profile visit by President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, brought a cool response from Tokyo with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga who claimed the move 'hurt Japanese people's feelings'.

'I believe the airport should be given a traditionally Russian name,' insisted Ivanov, adding that the new facility with a 2,300 metre runway should be used for military as well as civilian purposes. We should decide it during this week.'

Local opinions in capital Kurilsk would be taken into account, Ivanov said. He dismissed Japanese 'wailings', saying: 'I am ready to patiently listen to these declarations as long as I live'. 

Japan claims sovereignty over four Kuril Islands, and Iturup is known as Etorofu by Tokyo. But Russia insists that the sovereignty of the USSR over the islands was established at the end of the Second Word War and was backed by international agreements. It is believed bilateral contacts will go ahead despite strains in relations which include the Ukraine crisis. 

Alexander Khoroshavin, governor of Sakhalin region, who accompanied Mr Ivanov, said: 'The new airport will allow us to have more passengers travelling to see Iturup. 'It will assist in the island's development. There is a lot the island can offer. I think its bright tourist future is obvious.'

The scenery is stunning with volcanic massifs and mountain ridges. Iturup has some of Russia's highest waterfalls. 

'This is the first airport built from scratch in Russia's post-Soviet history. What's more, it was built in the swampy taiga', added the governor. 

'The airport will start with flights to and from Primorye, Khabarovsk, and Magadan region, with hopes for international flights in future', reported Vesti.ru TV. 

'The first passenger plane at the new airport was an Aurora airlines Bombardier Dash-8 Q300 with 50 passengers from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. They were greeted with presents and queries on how comfortable was the landing.'

Passenger Igor Moiseenko: 'It feels like a high quality airport meeting international standards.'

It is currently the newest airport in Russia, its construction on marsh land an engineering achievement. 

Andrey Lapshin, the Dash 8-300 pilot, said: 'The runway is great, wide and comfortable. It felt really smooth as we landed, seamless, it was very well built.'

Valentina Molchanova, chief of the airport's weather station, said: 'We are well equipped to service planes no matter the weather.'

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin on 21 September proposed bilateral talks  during the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum's summit that is due in Beijing in November. Mr Ivanov said the plan for the airport dated back more than a decade. 

'Everything began to be exact way back in 2003 when I was Defence Minister and visited here. The idea originated at that time,' he said.