S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport

S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport
S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno aerodromas
IATA: none – ICAO: EYKS
Summary
Airport type Public
Serves Kaunas, Lithuania
Location Aleksotas
Elevation AMSL 246 ft / 75 m
Coordinates 54°52′48″N 023°52′54″E / 54.88000°N 23.88167°E / 54.88000; 23.88167
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09R/27L 1,130 3,707 Asphalt

S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport (S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno aerodromas) (ICAO: EYKS), also known as Aleksotas Airport (Aleksoto aerodromas), is a small airport located in Aleksotas, close to the Europa Avenue, only 3 kilometres away from the Kaunas city centre in Lithuania. The airport was named after the Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, who perished in a crash near the end of an attempted non-stop flight from New York to Lithuania in 1933.

S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport was an international airport, established by German Army in 1915, after it captured Kaunas Fortress. It is the oldest functioning airport in Lithuania, making it also one of the oldest airports in Europe. During the Interwar period, the Deruluft airline started a regular service Königsberg-Kaunas-Smolensk-Moscow in May 1922. This was later expanded to the route Berlin-Danzig-Königsberg-Kaunas-Smolensk-Moscow. There were flights on the route Warsaw-Kaunas-Riga-Helsinki, also connections with Stockholm, and some more, in the 1930s. Lithuania ordered in England two six-seat planes Percival Q 6 and the first airline of Lithuanian civil aviation was inaugurated on 5 SeptemberTemplate:What year? with flights from Kaunas to Palanga. 216 regular flights by the route Kaunas-Palanga were made during the years 1938 and 1939, carrying a total of 764 passengers, 3546 kg of luggage, and 3476 kg of mail parcels.[1]

In the 1980s, Aleksotas Airport was considered one of the most dangerous airports in Europe due to its short runway.[2]

Its historical importance makes it a natural host for the Lithuanian Aviation Museum. Due to lack of territory for further development, the commercial activities of the airport were moved to the new Kaunas International Airport in 1988. S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport is still used for tourism purposes and air sports as well.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sumin.lt/en/activities/sectors_activities The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania. Civil Aviation
  2. ↑ http://vyrud.livejournal.com/100565.html LiveJournal. Kaunas Aleksotas airport

External links, sources


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