Ponikve Airport () is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

in the western part of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, located on the Ponikve plateau: 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest from the city of

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

. The airport boasts one of the longest runways in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, and the second longest in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In the vicinity of the airport are some of the popular

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

s and

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

s such as:

Zlatibor Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a List of mountains of Serbia, mountainous region in western Serbia. Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the lo ...

, Tara and

Mokra Gora Mokra Gora ( sr-Cyrl, Мокра Гора, lit=Wet Mountain, ) is a village located in the city of Užice, southwestern Serbia. It is situated on the northern slopes of the Zlatibor Mountains. Emphasis on historical reconstruction has made it int ...

History

Ponikve Airport was built in the period from 1979 to 1983, but until 1992, it wasn't used. In 1996 and 1997,

Jat Airways Jat Airways (stylized as JatAirways; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jat ervejz, Јат ервејз) was the national flag carrier and largest airline of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro and ...

, then known as JAT Yugoslav Airlines, served the airport twice a week for a domestic round line

–

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

–

Tivat Tivat (Serbo-Croatian: Tivat/Тиват, ) is a town in Coastal region of Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor. , its population was 9,367. Tivat is the centre of Tivat Municipality, which is the smallest municipality by area in Montenegro. ...

–

, with an

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

turboprop aircraft. Operations ceased in 1998 as the number of passengers reduced greatly. Ponikve airport had been heavily bombarded by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

forces during the

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an ag ...

. This led to complete destruction of the runway and facilities for any civilian or military use. On 21 October 2013, the Ponikve Airport greeted its first international civil flight, with a Cessna Citation CJ3 that contained two crew members and five-member delegation of businessmen from

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

landing at the airport. In the afternoon of the same day, a

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking coworker, associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more ...

departed from the airport to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Recent developments

Since 2006, the process of reconstruction of the Ponikve Airport has begun. The runway reconstruction has been completed and as of 2016, it has in length (around reconstructed). Also, the new terminal building was built in 2016. The airport, which boasts a new terminal building, was taken over by the state in 2018. In 2019, a 3,735 metre perimeter fence was erected, however, a further 5,195 metres are required. In addition, the final 800 metres of the 3,200 metres long runway must be resurfaced, and a lighting system installed. Some five million euros are necessary in order for the airport to be put into commercial use. Airports of Serbia submitted a request to the Ministry of Transportation to decide on the need to prepare a study on environmental impact assessment of the project of phased reconstruction of Ponikve airport. As stated in the preliminary design, the reconstruction will be done in 5 phases, for critical aircraft

Airbus A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is an incremental development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' being Greek for "new", as well as an acronym for "new engine option") is based on the Airbus A3 ...

and

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the trijet Boeing 727, 727, received its first orders in August 1978. The ...

. The first and second phases include the rehabilitation of the runway, drainage system, cable ducts of the light marking system and horizontal and vertical signaling of part of the runway, for the critical Airbus A320 neo aircraft. The third phase includes the expansion of the turntable on the threshold of the 28 runway in order to create opportunities for turning the critical Boeing 757 aircraft. The subject of the project of phase 4 is the construction of a new taxiway 23 m wide and the construction of a platform, and in the fifth phase the reconstruction of the protective belt at the end of the runway will be done for the critical Boeing 757 aircraft.

Airlines and destinations

As of 10 January 2023, there are no regular commercial passenger flights to/from Ponikve Airport.

Statistics

The passenger numbers are from

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

operations, both domestically and international.

References

External links