Batajnica Air Base

Batajnica Airbase Aerodrom Batajnica Аеродром Батајница
IATA: BJY – ICAO: LYBT Batajnica Airbase Location of Batajnica Airbase
Summary
Airport type		Military
Operator		Serbian Air Force
Serves		Belgrade
Location		Batajnica
Built		1947
In use		1951 - present
Elevation AMSL		ft / 86 m
Coordinates		44°56′07″N 020°15′27″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
11/29	x	1,100	Grass
12R/30L	7,999	2,438	Asphalt
12L/30R	x	2,502	Asphalt

Batajnica Airbase (IATA: BJY, ICAO: LYBT) (Cyrillic: Аеродром Бaтajницa, Latin Aerodrom Batajnica) is an airport in Serbia. The airport is located between the town of Batajnica and Nova Pazova, some 20 kilometers northwest of Belgrade and is a military air base of the Serbian Armed Forces. Batajnica is the only airport in Serbia with two asphalt runways.

History

Construction of the airport started in 1947 and was completed in 1951, when the airport was officially opened. The purpose of the airport was to protect the Yugoslav capital city, Belgrade in case of any air attack. One grass and two asphalted runways are used. It was known as 177th Air Base, which was its name until the 2006 reorganization.

Batajnica was home of 204th Fighter-Aviation regiment, 138th Transport-Aviation Regiment and other units of Yugoslav Air Force.

In 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the airport was bombed nearly every day. It was bombed 25 times, sustaining heavy damage.

In June 2006, two U.S. F-16 jets, part of USAFE, visited Batajnica Air Base. It was the first official visit in more than 20 years that U.S. aircraft had landed at a Serbian military airport, which was seen as a renewal of military cooperation between the two states.

Airport future

Control tower at Batajnica Air Base

Hangar at Batajnica Air Base

The Civil Aviation Directorate have visited Batajnica Airport and made a plan of reconstruction needed for handling civil air traffic (low cost carriers). On the 3rd of January 2008, one of 3 runways, which was badly damaged during the NATO attacks in 1999, was reconstructed and is in use.

670 million Serbian dinars are expected to be invested to make Batajnica Air Base into a joint civilian and military airport. At first, the airport will be used for cargo aircraft but will soon after handle passenger flights. The prospect came after many airlines preferred using Niš airport over Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport due to the lower fees at Niš. It is also suggested that Batajnica Air Base, once it becomes available for civilian use, be used as an alternative airport to Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport due to the better weather conditions experienced at Batajnica Air Base.[1]

Service

A MiG-21 gate guardian at Batajnica

Batajnica Air Base is home to several units and institutions of the Serbian Armed Forces:

• Serbian Air Force 204th Air Base, composed of:
  • 101st Fighter-Aviation Squadron
  • 252nd Mixed-Aviation Squadron
  • 138th Mixed-Transport-Aviation Squadron
  • 1st Reconnaissance Aviation Section
  • 24th Air Force Technical Battalion
  • 17th Air Base Security Battalion
  • 117th Air Force Air Defense Artillery Battalion
• Air Force and Air Defense Training Center
• Aeronautical Plant "Moma Stanojlović"
• Military Technical Test Center Flight Test Section

See also

• List of airports in Serbia

Sources

• Svaki peti putnik leteće lou-kostom (Serbian)
• "Od jeseni jeftin avio-prevoz" (Serbian)
• JP Aerodrom "Nikola Tesla" Beograd izašao je u susret potrebi Vojske Srbije za pokretnim stepenicama radi udobnijeg prijema VIP putnika na Aerodromu "Batajnica" i ustupio joj jedne stepenice. Na beogradskom aerodromu u upotrebi su avio mostovi za prijem i otpremu aviona, a stepenice su zamenjene novim modernijim. (Serbian)

External links

• Airport information for LYBT at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Batajnica Airport map
• All about Batajnica Air Base at the Wayback Machine (Map, Underground hangars, Air Show, MiG-29s, the Knights, the Wolfs & etc.)
• Batajnica Airbase pre strike with visible Control Tower