| Smolensk North Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: XUBS[1][2][3] | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military-civilian | ||
| Operator | Russian Air Force | ||
| Location | Smolensk | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 820 ft / 250 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 08/26 | 8,202 | 2,500 | Concrete |
Smolensk North Airport (Russian военный аэродром "Смоленск-Северный", "Smolensk North Military Aerodrome") is a decommissioned military airbase in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located 4 km north of the city of Smolensk. It is now used as Smolensk's sole airport for civil and military flights.[4] It has a remote revetment area with 8 pads and a Yakovlev factory at the southeast side of the airfield, the Smolensk Aviation Plant.
The airport was originally built in the 1920s, and it eventually became a class 1 airfield with a runway 2500 m long and 49 m wide, capable of handling planes over 75 tons in weight.[5]
Prior to 1991, it was home to the 401 IAP (401st Interceptor Aviation Regiment,[5] disbanded around 1990), flying MiG-23P aircraft, and the 871 IAP, flying MiG-23 and Su-27.
From 1946[5] until 2009, the base hosted an airlift unit, the 103 Gv VTAP (103rd Guards Military Air Transport Regiment, full name in Russian: 103-й гвардейский Красносельский Краснознамённый военно-транспортный авиационный полк имени Героя Советского Союза В. С. Гризодубовой),[6] flying Ilyushin Il-76 jets.[7][8] At one point, about 28 Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft were based there.
The regiment was disbanded in the fall of 2009, and since then there have been no active units at the base except for a small airbase command post.[6]
After the disbanding of the regiment, the airfield has been functioning in part as a civilian airport since October 2009.[5]
A Polish government Tu-154M Lux carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and an official delegation crashed during the final approach to the airport on 10 April 2010. All 96 aboard perished.[9]