Poznań–Ławica Henryk Wieniawski Airport , built in 1913, is one of the oldest airports in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is located west of

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

city centre. It takes its name from the neighborhood of Ławica, part of the city's Grunwald district, while the airport actually lies in the Jeżyce district.

Synopsis

The northern section has been used as a military airport since its inception in 1913 as an

Imperial German (, literally translated ) is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the German ', i.e., Imp ...

airbase until 23 December 2009. The southern section is used for civilian purposes. The prospect of relocating the airport elsewhere is often raised as a result of the flight path to the runway being located directly over the city. The airport caters for international, domestic and cargo flights and

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 ...

. A new terminal was opened in 2012 and can handle up to 3.5 million passengers per year.

Confusion with Poznań–Krzesiny military airport

Poznań–Ławica airport has been confused by

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s with a nearby

airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

, Poznań–Krzesiny Airbase (ICAO code: EPKS), which also has a runway. The runways are at approximately the same orientation: Ławica's is 11/29 (true heading: 108/288) and Krzesiny's is 12/30 (true heading: 117.9/297.9). The two runways lie in a nearly straight line, with Krzesiny coming up first on approaches from the east, the ones used most often. On the other hand, the Krzesiny airbase has two runways and lies southeast from the city centre, while Poznań–Ławica lies just west of it. One notable incident involving confusion between Ławica and Krzesiny happened on 15 August 2006, when a

Sky Airlines Sky Airlines was an airline which operated chartered flights. It was based in Antalya, Turkey, operating on behalf of tour operators on short and medium haul routes into Turkey. History The company was established in 2000 and started operation ...

aircraft - a

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

running flight number SKY335 - mistook the runway at Krzesiny for the one being used in Ławica, landing at the military base by accident. The aircraft later took off on a repositioning flight to the correct airfield. According to Krzysztof Krawcewicz, a pilot and the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the Polish monthly '' Przegląd Lotniczy/Aviation Revue'', this was at least the seventh mistaken aircraft that landed at the Poznań–Krzesiny airfield in 2006 alone. He faults, among others, the "scandalous procedures which are in use by the

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

at Poznań–Ławica" and the lack of

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

use in controlling aircraft landing, which, although a radar system is present at Ławica, has been shut off, most likely due to the nearby military base.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Poznań–Ławica Airport:

Statistics

Incidents and accidents

* On 10 June 1952, a

Petlyakov Pe-2 The Petlyakov Pe-2 ( — nickname «Пешка» (Pawn); NATO reporting name: Buck) was a Soviet Union, Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war,Ethell 1996, p. 152. it ...

bomber from the 21st Reconnaissance Regiment took off from Ławica air base for a training flight, but crashed shortly thereafter near the

Warta The river Warta ( , ; ; ) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly through the Polish Plain in a north-westerly direction to flow into the Oder at Kostrzyn nad Odrą on Poland's border with Germany. About long, it the second-longest riv ...

river as a result of engine failure. The crash killed the bomber's crew:

chorąży A standard-bearer ( Polish: ''Chorąży'' ; Russian and ; , chorunžis; ) is a military rank in Poland, Ukraine and some neighboring countries. A ''chorąży'' was once a knight who bore an ensign, the emblem of an armed troops, a voivodship, a l ...

Zdzisław Lara (pilot), chorąży Stanisław Kuć (navigator) and corporal Józef Bednarek (rear gunner/radio operator), as well as six civilians on the ground. Due to the fact that the aircraft was made in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the crash was covered up by the Communist authorities and the official reports put the blame on the pilot instead of equipment. In 2008, a monument was unveiled at the crash site.

Public ground transportation

Poznań transit (MPK Poznań) lines number 159 and 222 stop at the arrival area of the airport and provide a connection to

Poznań Główny railway station Poznań Główny, Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised to Poznan Main, is the chief railway station for the city of Poznań, Poland's fifth-largest city, and capital of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The station is located at a junction of Wa ...

. The trip takes approximately 20 minutes. There is also a bus stop for 148 nearby.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poznan-Lawica Airport Airports in Poland Buildings and structures in Poznań

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 ...