Departure
99%
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MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Poznań-Ławica Henryk Wieniawski Airport is a long-established civil and former military aerodrome lying just west of Poznań, Poland, and is one of the oldest airports in the country, dating back to 1913. It offers a single long, ILS-equipped hard runway and full air traffic control services, making it a straightforward if busy destination for visiting pilots, who should be alert to its proximity and near-identical runway alignment with the military airfield at Krzesiny.
Poznań-Ławica is a public airport serving the city of Poznań, operated by Poznań Ławica Airport Ltd. Built in 1913, it is one of the oldest airports in Poland and today handles international, domestic and cargo flights alongside general aviation. For a simulator pilot it is notable both for its long aviation history, stretching back to the Imperial German era, and for its long-standing reputation among crews for being easily confused with the nearby military airbase at Krzesiny.
The airport lies about 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Poznań city centre. It takes its name from the Ławica neighbourhood in the city's Grunwald district, although the airfield itself is actually situated in the Jeżyce district. Poznań Approach provides an H24 approach service on 123.04 MHz and 128.925 MHz, with Poznań Tower also operating H24 on 119.98 MHz; Ground (124.14 MHz) and Delivery (121.805 MHz) operate from 0400 to 2000. Pilots should be particularly aware of the nearby Poznań-Krzesiny Airbase (ICAO: EPKS) to the southeast, which has a runway of almost identical length and a very similar orientation lying nearly in line with Ławica's on approaches from the east; this has led to a number of documented cases of aircraft mistakenly landing at Krzesiny instead of Ławica.
The airport has a single physical runway, 10/28, a hard-surfaced strip some 8,151-8,152 ft in length and lit for night operations. Runway 28 is equipped with an ILS.
Radio services are provided as follows: Poznań Approach on 123.04 MHz and 128.925 MHz (H24), Poznań Tower on 119.98 MHz (H24), Poznań Ground on 124.14 MHz (0400-2000), Poznań Delivery on 121.805 MHz (0400-2000), and Poznań ATIS on 124.705 MHz (H24). An ILS serves runway 28.
The airfield was established in 1913 and its northern section served as a German Imperial airbase, continuing in military use right through to 23 December 2009, while the southern part of the site was developed for civilian purposes. On 10 June 1952 a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber of the 21st Reconnaissance Regiment crashed near the Warta river shortly after taking off from Ławica for a training flight, killing its three-man crew and six people on the ground; the crash, involving a Soviet-built aircraft, was covered up by the Communist authorities at the time, with a monument later unveiled at the site in 2008. A persistent operational hazard associated with the field has been confusion between Ławica and the nearby Poznań-Krzesiny military airbase, whose runway lies almost in line with Ławica's on the commonly used easterly approach; in one notable incident on 15 August 2006 a Sky Airlines Boeing 737-800 (flight SKY335) landed at Krzesiny in error before repositioning to Ławica, reportedly at least the seventh such mistaken landing that year. A new passenger terminal, able to handle up to 3.5 million passengers annually, opened in 2012.
Poznań-Ławica now functions as a busy civil airport handling international, domestic and cargo traffic as well as general aviation, with scheduled and charter services operated by a range of airlines. The prospect of relocating the airport has periodically been discussed because its approach path lies directly over the city. The proximity and similarity of the nearby Krzesiny military airbase remains a factor for crews to bear in mind when planning arrivals.
