Divača

45°40'55"N013°59'40"E

runway: 12/30 - 800x..m/2625ft - grass
runway: 13/31 - 800x..m/2625ft - asphalt


Air field Divača (Italian: Aerodromo di Divacca; Slovenian: Letališče Gabrk, also known as Letališče Divača, ICAO LJDI) is one of the oldest airfields in Slovenia, 17km (10mi) east of Triest, Italy.
The airfield was built by the Austro-Hungarian Air Force in World War I.
It was used to test bomber aircraft destined for the Isonzo front.





Austrian aircraft at Divacca in 1917


After World War I it was continued by the Italian Air Force on what was by then Italian territory.
The airfield was 'L'-shaped, with the apex in the south.
From here two 'runways' (grass lanes, really) extended 2850ft(950m) in a NNE and WNW direction.
In 1943 the airfield was scouted by Allied intelligence to have one, possibly two hangars.
With the exception to its south side it was surrounded by the Triest-Ljubjana railway line.
They were unable to trace aircraft movements to the airfield, possibly because the Italians stopped using the airfield in 1942.





Dec 1943 provisional USAAF aerodrome map (AFHRC, via Reid Waltman)





Dec 1943 provisional USAAF map of the area around Divacca (AFHRC, via Reid Waltman)


The area, belonging to Italy between World War I and the end of World War II, was heavily but peacefully disputed between Yugoslavia and Italy after the war.
While the airfield and the province were ceded to Yugoslavia, the nearby city of Triest and the region to the south were not settled upon until 1975.
During the Tito years of Yugoslavia the airfield started to perish, when the Yugoslav Army used it as a training ground.
By the 1980s it became more popular and it was in use after 2000, when Slovenia was already 10 years independent.
In 2009 the municipality of Divača announced plans to convert the airfield into a traffic school.
After much protest the plans were shelved however.
Being so close to Triest means a lot of economic development is going on in the region.
For this reason the airfields existence is still under treath.
Today the airfield has two semi-parallel runways (one hardened), three hangars for about 12 aircraft and a control tower.