Jūrmala 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 ...

located in

Smārde Parish Smārde Parish () is an administrative unit of Tukums Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, alon ...

Tukums Municipality Tukums Municipality () is a Latvian municipality situated partly in the region of Semigallia, partly in Courland and partly in Vidzeme. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Degole Parish, Džūkste Parish, Irlava Parish, Jaunsāti P ...

, in the

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, southeast of

Tukums Tukums (; ; ) is a town in Latvia and serves as the administrative center of Tukums Municipality. It is located in the eastern part of the historical region of Courland, and with more than 16,000 inhabitants Tukums is the 13th largest settlem ...

. All of the airport's technical infrastructure, runway and buildings are what was left of the former Soviet military Tukums air base, which was a spartan military airfield with a single long ramp and revetted area. The base was completely abandoned, but in 2010 the conversion of the base to a civil airport with passenger terminals started. This airport is the also the home of the

Baltic Bees Jet Team The Baltic Bees Jet Team is a civilian aerobatic display team based in Jūrmala Airport (EVJA), Latvia, 60km west of the capital, Riga. The team consists of six Czechoslovak Aero L-39 Albatros jets. The team flies a display lasting around 20 mi ...

History

The aviation history in the area starts in early 1930s, when the first hangar and workshop were constructed. The USSR placed aircraft in Latvian airfields and expanded, and built new airfields. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

an airfield was built for German ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

.'' After the war it was operated by the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

, flying

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

(Fencer) aircraft operated by 668 MShAP (668 мшап, 668th Naval '' Shturmovik'' Aviation Regiment) . Another source gives 240 MShAP (240th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment). In the spring of 1993 the airfield was recognized as Reserve Airfield of Tukums (RAT) of the Latvian Air Forces. Since July 31, 2001 the Tukums airfield belonged to

Smārde parish Smārde Parish () is an administrative unit of Tukums Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, alon ...

. On March 15, 2005, Tukums Airport Ltd. was established. In 2005–2006 renovation of the runway and in 2009–2010 construction of the passenger terminal has started. In 2011 ILS and VOR/ DME installation and light-signal system certification has been completed.

Accidents and incidents

*On 2008, prior to the Tukums Air Show, YL-CCX (cn 31-647) a Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, was flown on a

Visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) is a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better tha ...

(VFR) flight from Riga-Spilve airport to the Tukums Air Show in deteriorating weather. The aircraft crashed near

killing the pilot and injuring seven student pilots who were passengers on the aircraft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurmala airport Tukums Municipality Latvian airbases Former Soviet military air bases in Latvia Soviet Naval Aviation bases