Słupsk-Redzikowo Airport is a disused civil airport in

Słupsk Słupsk (; ; ) is a city with powiat rights located on the Słupia River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland, in the historical region of Pomerania or more specifically in its part known in contemporary Poland as Central Pomerania ...

(100,000 inhabitants), northern Poland. Its airport in Słupsk- Redzikowo, that has a 7,200-foot-long runway, and a record of serving domestic flights to the popular seaside destination close to the Baltic sea. In the 1980s there were scheduled flights to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

, and before World War II to Berlin and

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. It covers approximately 2.5 million people in its catchment area, and many popular seaside resorts. Słupsk participates in the "DEAR" project, that supports the local authorities trying to revive its airports.

History

The airfield Stolp-West was opened in 1916 for the Imperial German ''Luftstreitkräfte'', after the

Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...

the airfield was used as a civilian airport. It became a vital connection to

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, which was cut off from mainland

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

by the

Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor (; ), also known as the Pomeranian Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Eastern Pomerania), which provided the Second Polish Republic with access to the Baltic Sea, thus d ...

. In 1921, the "Luftverkehrsgesellschaft Pommern" was founded which operated from Stolp-West. The

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline. It served as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and t ...

started to use the airport in 1926, a large hangar for six aircraft was built and the airfield served as an intermediate between

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

and the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

and

. In 1935, a new

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 ...

airfield Stolp-Reitz was built. In

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 ...

, the airbase served as a basis for Sturzkampfgeschwader 2"Immelmann" ( Ju 87B) between May and September 1939, the I./Trägergruppe 186 ( Ju 87B) and the naval Ju 87B divebombers intended for service on board of

German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin The German aircraft carrier ''Graf Zeppelin'' was the lead ship in a Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier, class of two carriers of the same name ordered by the ''Kriegsmarine'' of Nazi Germany. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Ger ...

. In January 1940, it became home to the second squadron of the third Fighter School (II./Jagdfliegerschule 3). Units of the

Jagdgeschwader 54 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 54 (JG 54) ''Grünherz'' was a Luftwaffe fighter wing that was founded in late 1936 and operated from 1939, the entire length of the Second World War. It later existed under the reformed Luftwaffe from 1947 to 1991 as BG54/B54 ...

and the Jagdgeschwader 103 were stationed at the base. Stolp-Reitz was never attacked by Allied bomber, the airfield was blown up on 8 March 1945 just before the Red Army reached the region. After the Second World War, it was used by the Red Army until 1950. Later regular connection to Katowice, Koszalin, Warsaw and Wrocław were established. 190812-N-AW818-875

Beginning in 2016, the airfield is in the process of being demolished as part of the construction of the

Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System The Aegis ballistic missile defense system (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a Missile Defense Agency program under the United States Department of Defense developed to provide missile defense against short and inte ...

and has been renamed Naval Support Facility Redzikowo.

Airport infrastructure

There exists a railroad line to the terminal that can be used for passenger service.

References

External links

IL website of the revitalisation campaign
Defunct airports in Poland Buildings and structures in Słupsk {{Poland-airport-stub