Warsaw-Babice (ICAO code: EPBC, IATA code: QEB) is an airport in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, located in the residential district of

Bemowo Bemowo is a district of Warsaw located in the western part of the city. Its territory covers the western belt of the former district of Wola, which was incorporated to Warsaw in the year 1951. The name of the district derives from the surname of ...

, near the border with the district of

Bielany Bielany () is a district in Warsaw located in the north-western part of the city. Initially a part of Żoliborz, Bielany has been an independent district since 1994. Bielany borders Żoliborz to the south-east, and Bemowo to the south-west. Its ...

. It is also unofficially known as Bemowo. The airport is administered by the Centre for Logistics "Warsaw-Babice" (Centrum Usług Logistycznych "Lotnisko Warszawa-Babice") and organisations based there include: the Warsaw Aero Club ( Aeroklub Warszawski) and Polish Air Rescue (

Lotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe State Medical Rescue ( pl, Państwowe Ratownictwo Medyczne, PRM) in Poland is a system of free public emergency healthcare established by ''Ustawa o Państwowym Ratownictwie Medycznym'' (''State Medical Rescue Act''), including ambulance service ...

). It has been used for various events and celebrity arrivals including

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

(1996),

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

(2009),

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

(2010), and the

Sonisphere Festival The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It ...

(2010, 2011, 2012).

Infrastructure

The airport has a concrete runway 10R/28L, measuring 1,300 m x 90 m, and, parallel to it, a grass runway 10L/28R, measuring 1,000 m x 150 m. The airport was established at the former military airport in Bemowo. It had two concrete runways 5/23 measuring 2,000 m x 80 m and 10R/28L measuring 2,500 m x 90 m. One of the former runways was used as an extension to the residential Powstańców Śląskich Street. Only part of the second, longer runway was used for the new airport.

Radio frequencies

* 119.180 MHz - Babice Informacja (Babice Information for English speakers) * 122.305 MHz - Babice Radio for glider flights

History

The site of the current airport was used as a landing strip for Russian and German airplanes. In 1918, it was one of the bases for the Research Institute of Aviation Technology (Instytutu Badań Techniki Lotniczej - IBTL) which then changed into the Technical Institute of Aviation (Instytut Techniczny Lotnictwa - ITL). The airport was reestablished after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, at "Szwedzkie Górki" (Swedish Hills) between Fort P (part of the

Warsaw Fortress Warsaw Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Warszawa, russian: Варшавская крепость) was a system of fortifications built in Warsaw, Poland during the 19th century when the city was part of the Russian Empire. The fortress belonged to a chain ...

) and

Boernerowo Boernerowo is a neighbourhood in the Warsaw's borough of Bemowo. Initially the spot was occupied by a small village called Babice, with an eponymous fort located in its centre. In early 1920s the area surrounding the fort was bought by the Polish s ...

outside Warsaw (during this period, it was in the municipality of Gmina Blizne based in Old Babice, hence the name of the airport). In 1959, a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

transporting U.S. Vice-President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, used the airport. Singer

performed at Bemowo on 20 September 1996 during his

HIStory World Tour The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning ...

in front of 120,000 people. Due to the heavy urbanization around the airport, to ensure safety and to ease the burden of airport operations for locals, a custom procedure (the only one of its kind in Poland) to circulate traffic was introduced, which caused controversy among pilots and instructors. There still is a conflict between the airport and local residents.

Bibliography

AIP Polska
(registration required) {{authority control Airports in Poland Bemowo