Ponikve Airport Explained

Ponikve Airport
Nativename-A:Аеродром Поникве
Nativename-R:Aerodrom Ponikve
Iata:UZC
Icao:LYUZ
Pushpin Map:Serbia
Pushpin Label:UZC
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of the airport in Serbia
Type:Public
Owner:Government of Serbia
Operator:Airports of Serbia
City-Served:Užice, Čajetina, Zlatibor
Location:Užice, Serbia
Elevation-F:2,943-2,999
Elevation-M:897-914
R1-Number:11L/29R
R1-Length-F:10,499
R1-Length-M:3,200
R1-Surface:Concrete/Asphalt
R2-Number:11R/29L
R2-Length-F:4,921
R2-Length-M:1,500
R2-Surface:Grass
Stat-Year:2019
Stat1-Header:Passenger number
Stat1-Data:34
Airports of Serbia
Native Name:Аеродроми Србије
Native Name Lang:sr
Romanized Name:Aerodromi Srbije
Type:Limited liability company
Founder:Government of Serbia
Location City:Vazduhoplovaca 24, Niš
Location Country:Serbia
Key People:Mihajlo Zdravković
Industry:Aviation
Services:Airport management
Revenue:4.21 million [1]
Net Income:€1.16 million
Assets:€96.30 million [2]
Equity:€91.62 million
Num Employees:200
Subsid:Aerodrom Trebinje d.o.o. (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Footnotes: [3]

Ponikve Airport (Serbian: Аеродром Поникве|Aerodrom Ponikve) is an airport in the western part of Serbia, located on the Ponikve plateau: 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest from the city of Užice. The airport boasts one of the longest runways in the Balkans, and the second longest in Serbia.

In the vicinity of the airport are some of the popular tourist attractions and ski resorts such as: Zlatibor, Tara and Mokra Gora.

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, then known as JAT Yugoslav Airlines, served the airport twice a week for a domestic round line UžiceBelgradeTivatUžice, with an ATR 72 turboprop aircraft. Operations ceased in 1998 as the number of passengers reduced greatly.

Ponikve airport has been heavily bombarded by NATO forces during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. This led to complete destruction of the runway and facilities for any civilian or military use.

On 21 October 2013, the Ponikve Airport greeted the first international civil flight – on the runway landed Cessna Citation CJ3 with two crew members and five-member delegation of businessmen from Brussels.[4] [5] [6] Same day in the afternoon hours, Business jet went to Thessaloniki.

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 3200m (10,500feet) in length (around 2300m (7,500feet) reconstructed). Also, the new terminal building was built in 2016.[7] [8]

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.[9]

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 and Boeing 757. 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.[10]

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 operations, both domestically and international.

YearPassengersChangeAircraft movementsChangeCargo (t)Change
201692[11] N/A
201737 59.8%148[12] N/A
201820[13] 45.1%349 135.9%N/A
201934[14] 70.0% 394 12.9%N/A
202249[15] 196N/A

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bilans uspeha (2020) . apr.gov.rs . 31 October 2021 . Serbian . 31 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211031183941/https://pretraga3.apr.gov.rs/docRepo/download?xbcd=7100118827230&xrnd=C2003750777945FC93CC74CF85FE046ECB2A1011 . dead .
  2. Web site: Bilans stanja (2020) . apr.gov.rs . 31 October 2021 . Serbian . 31 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211031183941/https://pretraga3.apr.gov.rs/docRepo/download?xbcd=7100118827223&xrnd=1C16BC99A7AB359CC5710A91CA6AEF47E7C0A6F1 . dead .
  3. Web site: Основни подаци о привредном друштву. apr.gov.rs. Serbian Business Registers Agency. 24 February 2018. sr.
  4. Web site: Prvim međunarodnim letom na Ponikvama stigli privrednici iz Brisela. 27 November 2015. Blic.rs.
  5. Web site: Vesti. РТС.
  6. Web site: I međunarodni letovi na Ponikvama. NOVOSTI.
  7. News: Pejović. B.. Nova aerodromska zgrada od kaponira na Ponikvama. 4 December 2017. politika.rs. 3 May 2016. sr.
  8. News: Direktor Aerodroma Ponikve: Nastavljamo sa ograđivanjem prostora oko piste; U planu i uspostavljanje redovnog avio-saobraćaja. 20 February 2019. politika.rs. 19 February 2019. sr.
  9. News: Nedostaje pet miliona evra: Otvaranje aerodroma Ponikve tokom 2020?. 14 October 2019. b92.net. 14 October 2019. sr.
  10. Web site: About the airport | Aerodrom Ponikve .
  11. Web site: извештај о пословању јп „аеродром поникве" за 2017 . sr . Report on the operations of jp "Aerodrom Ponikve" for the year 2017.
  12. Web site: програм пословања за 2020. sr . business program for 2020.
  13. Web site: извештај о пословању јп „аеродром поникве” ужице за 2018 . sr . Report on the operations of jp "Ponikve Airport" in Uzice for 2018.
  14. Web site: ОДЛУКУ - Усваја се Извештај о пословању Јавног предузећа „Аеродром Поникве" Ужице за 2019. годину, бр. 03-55/1-2020 од 03.08.2020 . sr . DECISION - The Report on the operations of the Public Enterprise "Aerodrom Ponikve" in Užice for the year 2019, No. 03-55/1-2020 of 08/03/2020 is approved.
  15. Web site: програм пословања „аеродроми србије“ д.о.о. ниш за 2023 . sr . Business program of "Airports of Serbia" d.o.o. Niš for 2023.