Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Niš Constantine the Great Airport is Serbia's second-busiest airport, lying just northwest of the city of Niš and sharing its site with a Serbian Air Force base. Named after the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, who was born in the ancient city of Naissus on this spot, it offers a single long instrument runway and a mix of civil and military traffic that makes it a useful destination for VFR pilots exploring southern Serbia.
Niš Constantine the Great Airport (ICAO: LYNI) serves the city of Niš in Central Serbia and is the country's second-largest and second-busiest airport after Belgrade Nikola Tesla. The field is a joint civil-military facility, hosting Niš Air Base of the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence alongside scheduled passenger operations. It takes its name from the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, who was born nearby in the ancient city of Naissus, giving the airport a strong historical resonance for visiting pilots.
The airport lies in the suburbs of Medoševac and Popovac, about 4 km (2.5 mi) northwest of downtown Niš. Approach and tower services are provided locally, with Nis Approach and Nis Tower covering arriving and departing traffic in the vicinity of the field.
Niš has a single physical runway, 11/29, with a hard surface and runway lighting on both directions. Runway 11 is listed at 7,483 ft and Runway 29 at 7,218 ft, and Runway 29 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches. Field elevation is 643 ft.
Pilots should expect to work Nis Approach on 119.525 MHz and Nis Tower on 118.95 MHz, with a combined tower/approach alternate frequency on 136.075 MHz. The international emergency frequency 121.5 MHz is also monitored. Runway 29 carries an ILS approach.
Niš has a long aviation history dating back to 1912, when the Air Command, the first aerial unit of the Kingdom of Serbia's military, was established in the town, with an early airfield selected near the village of Trupale. Construction of the airport at its present site in Medoševac began in 1923, and Niš featured on early Aeroput route plans from 1927, with scheduled Belgrade-Skopje services calling there from 1935. After the Second World War the site became primarily a military base, home at various times to the 63rd Paratroop Brigade and the 119th Aviation Brigade, and a portion of the airfield remains in Serbian Air Force use today. The first concrete runway, 1,500 m long, was built in 1952 for military flights, and was extended to 2,200 m in 1972 to accommodate larger commercial aircraft. Occasional Adriatic coast services in the 1970s grew into a recognised civil requirement, leading to the establishment of the entity "Airport Niš" in 1986, when a new terminal, support facilities, asphalt runway and runway lighting system were opened. The breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent sanctions sharply reduced traffic in the 1990s, and the airport was heavily damaged during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. It reopened in 2003 with financial assistance from the government of Norway, including a new control tower and a renewed terminal. Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines resumed international flights from 2004, and from 2015 onward low-cost carriers including Wizz Air and Ryanair expanded the airport's route network significantly.
The airport continues to combine civil and military roles: Niš Air Base is home to the 119th Mixed Helicopter Squadron "Dragons" of the 98th Air Brigade and the elite 63rd Parachute Brigade, and the site also hosts the Serbian-Russian Emergency Response Centre, established in 2009, and the Center for Aerial Firefighting Duties. On the civil side the airport handles scheduled low-cost and charter services alongside cargo operations.