Batajnica Air Base

The Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base (Serbian: Војни аеродром пуовник-пилот Миленко Павловић, romanized: Vojni aerodrom pukovnik-pilot Milenko Pavlović), commonly known as Batajnica Air Base (Serbian: Војни аеродром Батајница, romanized: Vojni aerodrom Batajnica) (IATA: BJY, ICAO: LYBT) is the main military air base of Serbia. It is located between Batajnica and Nova Pazova, about 25 km northwest from the center of Belgrade, Serbia. It is the only airport in Serbia with two runways.

Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base

Вoјни аеродром пуковник-пилот Миленко Павловић

Vojni aerodrom pukovnik-pilot Milenko Pavlović
Control tower during air show, 2012.
Summary
Airport typeMilitary air base
OperatorSerbian Air Force
ServesBelgrade
LocationBelgrade, Serbia
Built1947
In use1951 - present
Elevation AMSL281 ft / 86 m
Coordinates44°56′07″N 020°15′27″E
Map
Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11/29 3,609 1,100 Grass
12R/30L 7,999 2,438 Asphalt
12L/30R 8,209 2,502 Asphalt

History

Construction of the airbase started in 1947 and was completed in 1951, when the airbase was officially opened. The purpose of the airbase was to protect the capital from attack. One grass and two asphalted runways are used. It was known as 177th Air Base, which was its name until the 2006 reorganization. The airbase was home of 204th Fighter-Aviation regiment, 138th Transport-Aviation Regiment and other units of Yugoslav Air Force.

During the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the airbase was heavily bombed for 25 days and sustained heavy damage.

In June 2006, two USAF F-16 fighter jets, landed in the airbase. It was the first official visit of USAF aircraft in more than 20 years and the first since the bombing. In June 2019, Batajnica Air Base officially changed its name to Colonel-pilot Milenko Pavlović Air Base, in honor of Milenko Pavlović, a pilot killed during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.[1]

Units
A MiG-21 gate guardian

Serbian Air Force units operating from Milenko Pavlović Air Base:

101st Fighter Aviation Squadron with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21's and Mikoyan MiG-29UM's.[3]
252nd Training Squadron
138th Transport Squadron
890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron
24th Air Force Technical Battalion
17th Air Base Security Battalion
177th Air Force Air Defence Artillery Battalion

References
  1. "Aerodrom Batajnica dobio ime po pilotu poginulom u ratu 1999". n1info.com (in Serbian). Beta. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  2. 204TH AIR FORCE BRIGADE Archived March 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. February 2017. p. 10.
  4. AIR FORCE TRAINING CENTER Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  1. http://www.vs.rs/sr_lat/vesti/tagovi/370/aerodrom-kovin
  2. http://www.vs.rs/sr_lat/jedinice/vojska-srbije/komanda-za-obuku/prvi-centar-za-obuku
  3. https://balkans.aljazeera.net/news/balkan/2015/11/23/vojni-aerodrom-u-sjenici-mogao-bi-postati-civilni
  4. http://www.politika.rs/sr/clanak/460558/Na-Srebrnom-jezeru-prvi-turisticki-aerodrom-u-Srbiji
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