Validation date: 24 01 2021
Updated on: Never
Views: 2074
See on the interactive map:
42° 36' 16.6" N 20° 54' 38" E
Runway: 35/17 - 450x18m - Asphalt
Koretica airfield was an airfield located 20km in the west of Pristina.
The airfield was constructed primarily for the former socialist state-owned agricultural company Agro-Kosova in the late 70s and early 80s. It was one of 18 such airfields, all sharing common features like their runway dimensions, which in most cases have a length of approximately 450 m and width of 18 m.
In 1987, the Yugoslav authorities at the time approved the plan to extend and expand all these airfields, resizing them to 600 meters in length and 21 meters width. This plan also provided infrastructural improvements. This plan was not implemented however.
The airfields were mainly used by Agro-Kosova for aerial agricultural application. These airfields were extended in such a way so as to meet the needs of all regions in Kosovo.
During the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the aeronautical sector, especially general aviation, did not develop at all. All existing airfields in Kosovo degraded from the beginning of the 1990s. Even agricultural planes that were owned by the socialist-owned enterprise Agro-Kosova were taken to Serbia during the withdrawal of Serbian regime from Kosovo in 1999.
After the war, the main priority of the international presence in Kosovo, which was responsible for the Kosovo airspace, was the functioning of commercial aviation and operation of Prishtina International Airport, leaving next to no effort on other airfields.
The surface area of Koretica airfield is paved with asphalt, but is almost entirely covered with waste and large rocks. In the airfield perimeter there are fences on arable lands, which are located near the runway.
Access road to these arable lands surrounding the airfield of Koretica passes through the runway.
View of Koretica in 2021 (GoogleEarth)
In 2021 the airfield was not fit to be used in it's then current state. Reactivation would require it to be cleaned, requiring a minimal investment, so this airfield can become operational. The airspace near the airfield has no serious physical obstacles that prevent possible air activities.
Information mainly from Civil Aviation Autority of Kosovo
(Research by Olivier)