Przemyśl 2017-10-25
Krajna Arłamów airport near Przemyśl.
Geographic coordinates: 49.658N 22.514E. Elevation 442 m.
The town of Arłamów.
Geographically and historically, Arłamów is located in the Bieszczady Mountains. According to tradition, the name of the town comes from the so-called arłamans (vagabonds) who settled here during the times of the Russian princes. The town was re-located under Wallachian law at the end of the 15th century by Jan Herburt (Arłamowski) (1470–1508) – a member of parliament from the Ruthenian Voivodeship – the first owner – the mayor of Sambor. Then the owners were his heirs, who took the surname Arłamowski. In 1776, Arłamów and the estates of Dobremil were bought by the Austrian government, including them in the state estates, the so-called chamber estates. From 1644, there was an Orthodox parish in Arłamów, and later a Greek Catholic one. Of several churches, the last one was built in 1914. The parish was liquidated along with the entire village in 1945. In 1921, Arłamów had 144 houses and 897 inhabitants (873 Greek Catholics, 9 Roman Catholics, 15 Jewish). Most of the inhabitants were resettled to Ukraine in 1946, and the last 200 people were resettled as part of the "Wisła" resettlement action.
The village of Krajna.
The village of Krajna is a no longer existing village in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Przemyśl County, Bircza Commune, in the Przemyśl Foothills. Krajna was founded in the 16th century as one of the last villages of the Rybotic area. In the mid-19th century, the owners of the estate in Krajna were Antoni and Józef Tyszkowski. The last owner, Paweł Tyszkowski, bequeathed the village to the Polish Academy of Learning in Krakow at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1921, the town of Krajna had 46 houses and 279 inhabitants (250 Greek Catholic, 14 Roman Catholic, 15 Jewish). Most of the inhabitants were deported to Ukraine in 1946. The destroyed village buildings and the site of the Orthodox church from 1882 are covered with forest.
Krajna-Arłamów Airport.
Arłamów Airport can also be found under the name Krajna Airport, because it was actually built in the village of Krajna, which was liquidated by the communists after 1945. Currently, Arłamów Airport is located in the town of Wola Krzemieniecka, Bircza commune, geographically Przemyśl Foothills, Podkarpackie Voivodeship. It is located approximately 15 km south-west of Arłamów and approximately 35 km from Przemyśl. The owner of the airport is the "Arłamów" Recreation Center. The new airport opened in 2012. The airport received the ICAO code – EPAR. The airport is listed in the records of the Civil Aviation Office as a landing strip. Airport elevation 442 m above sea level (1,455 ft). It is the highest located airport in Poland. RWY Direction 17/35, asphalt concrete surface, 1,200 m, plus PPS. Geographic coordinates 49°39′31″N 22°30′57″E.
History of Krajna Airport.
Krajna Airport was built by the 16th Airport Construction Battalion, probably in 1971. Although it had been operating as a field airport since 1945. In 1971, a hard runway (RWY) was built with dimensions of 1,200 m x 30 m and a concrete surface.
The purpose of establishing the airport was to connect the party center in Arłamów with Warsaw by air. The center belonged to the NKVD and the Internal Security Corps for the second half of the 40 years. A combat unit was stationed here, whose task was to "clear" the area of people who actually or allegedly did not like the communist authorities. The main military actions began in 1947, when the communist power had already strengthened and the native communists were already "well" trained by their NKVD comrades. Then, in the period 1947-1950, "Action Vistula" took place, which was officially directed against UPA units. But looking at the profiles of the managers of this action, Karol Świerczewski and Michał Rola Żymierski, one must have doubts.
Until 1990, Krajna Airport was government property. Planes bringing communists and their guests landed here. Small transport planes landed here: Il-14, An-2, but also An-24 and Yak-40. The latter turned on the engine thrust reversers just before landing. Mi-2 and Mi-8 transport helicopters often flew here.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the Arłamów center was renamed a modern rest house for communists. An impressive building was built. Then, in the area of the former village of Trójca, several villas in the Zakopane style were built. Probably four. The main pastime of the communists was hunting. Therefore, an area of 23,000 hectares was fenced, i.e. the area of several villages that no longer exist: Jamna Dolna and Górna, Kwaczenia, Łomna, Grąziowa, Krajna and Trójca. The length of the fence is approximately 80 km. Steel barriers and guards were erected on the access roads, and "no crossing" signs were placed at the earlier intersections. There were several entrances for game animals in the fence, which could not be crossed in the opposite direction.
Communists: Jaroszewicz and Gierek were frequent guests in Arłamów. Their guests included: the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi, King Baudouin of Belgium, President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito, President of France Valery Giscard d’Estaigne, Honeker from the GDR and others from CCCP.
Since December 2008, the villas in Trójcy belong to the Ustrzyki Dolne commune. The commune took them over from the Office of the Council of Ministers, along with the equipment and hunting trophies, although the movable property had to be paid for. Currently, it houses the Interschool Education and Recreation Center, but there are plans to put the houses up for sale. A similar thing happened after the fall of the Polish People’s Republic with the center in Arłamów, also taken over by the Ustrzyki commune, and later sold to the Kamax company from Kańczuga.
After 1989.
In 1990, the airport area was actually taken over by the State Forests. Temporary wood warehouses were set up here before being transported further into the country. Sometimes car and motorcycle rallies were organized here.
In the 1990s, Lockheed C-130 Hercules planes belonging to the Special Air Service (SAS), a special unit of the British Army, also landed here and trained with the Polish special unit GROM. However, in general, the airport was overgrowing and slowly falling into ruin.
Around 2004, an initiative was born in Przemyśl to establish the Przemyśl Aero Club on the basis of the abandoned Krajna Airport. Unfortunately, the idea was not implemented.
Since 2005, efforts have been made to restore the aviation character of the facility. The Bircza Commune authorities were involved in the renovation of the airport. They were looking for an investor willing to invest in the facility. According to the Bircza Commune authorities, there were several interested parties who would like to invest in this airport. The Dutch, among others, wanted to adapt the airport to service flying taxis. Gliding enthusiasts from Bezmiechowa and representatives of the princely Sapiech family, who already have investments in Leszczawa Dolna in the Bircza commune, were also interested. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach a common consensus between the interested parties and the owner of the airport area, which was the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Krosno. The airport and air taxis, which are becoming more and more fashionable in air transport, could transport people from Poland and abroad willing to use the spa advantages of Bircza Zdrój, because several years of efforts by the commune authorities to obtain the status of a spa commune for Bircza were being finalized at that time.
In 2011, the company that was building a ski resort in Arłamów with thermal springs bought the area. They wanted to attract tourists this way. There was even thought of creating a regular transport line with small planes. The Podkarpackie Voivode got involved in the case. The problem is that great hopes were raised, so much so that some people in their imagination saw a Boeing B.737 landing at Krajna Airport. Those more familiar with the topic pointed to the use of STOL class aircraft, i.e. short takeoff and landing, such as PZL M-28 Bryza or Bombardier DASH-8-400. The example of Norway was given, which has several airports with a DS (RWY) length of only 890 m. They also gave the example of the airport in Plymouth in the UK, which has a DS length. (RWY) of just 1,161 m x 30 m, which maintained regular connections to several cities in Great Britain. They only forgot to add that the Plymouth port served over 150,000 passengers a year, which would be fiction for Krajna Airport. And still, in 2011, the port of Plymouth was closed because it no longer met the standards and a new airport had to be built.
Some emphasized that to stimulate commercial traffic, local governments could subsidize tickets. They have already named the airport Przemyśl-Sanok Airport or Bieszczady-Przemyśl. Connections with Warsaw, Gdańsk and Wrocław were proposed. Even the carrier Jet Air was mentioned.
The Krajna Airport case was even based on parliamentary questions in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 2006. In response, the Ministry of Transport and Construction announced that a program "Development of the network of regional airports and aviation ground facilities" was being prepared. The program never received its final formula and was never implemented.
The demands on commercial transport are high. Movement from abroad would require the creation of a border crossing. In order for the Krajna Airport to function at all, it would be necessary to create: an Aero Club, a gliding, airplane or parachute school, or count on General Aviation (wealthy tourists and hunters).
The new owner of the Arłamów Landing – Hotel Arłamów.
In 2012, Hotel Arłamów SA became the owner of the Krajna Airport. The owners of Hotel Arłamów advertise it as the only hotel with an airport. There is a heliport right next to the hotel.
In 2013, the runway surface was renovated and covered with asphalt. The necessary horizontal signs have been painted. As required, the area was completely fenced. In this way, the possibility of an accident caused by a running wild animal was also eliminated. A wind indicator, the so-called sleeve, was installed. The necessary air traffic control tower was built.
The airport has very poor infrastructure. There are no hangars, no weather point, no radio equipment to support landing in conditions of limited visibility. Only VFR takeoffs and landings can take place here.
The owner of Krajna-Arłamów Airport, the four-star "Arłamów" hotel, launches a radio communication station for the duration of arrivals and departures. The "Arłamów" hotel complex was opened in 2013.
In 1996, the government hotel together with outbuildings and the adjacent area of the government center codenamed "W-2" ("W-1" stands for Łańsk near Olsztyn), were bought by the Mechanical Equipment Factory "KAMAX" from Kańczuga. In 2012, the "Hotel Arłamów SA" company was established and the expansion of the center began. A new facility was built, called "Hotel Arłamów", and a golf course, equestrian center, ski center, sports field and rope park were opened nearby. An indoor swimming pool, indoor tennis courts, a gym and a SPA were built. The Arłamów hotel is a huge investment, because the construction cost is over PLN 300 million. In total, the Arłamów Hotel can accommodate up to 700 people in 254 rooms, of which 213 are located in the new part and 41 in the Residence.
On August 14, 2014, Hotel Arłamów, in cooperation with Volf Aviation, launched an aviation fuel station at the Arłamów airstrip. The station offers AVGASS 100LL fuel for piston engines, sold in capacities from 60 liters and in multiples of 60 liters in the excise system. The cost of 1 liter of fuel is PLN 12 gross. Accepted forms of payment: cash, debit/credit card. Volf Aviation’s professional on-site staff ensures safe refueling of aircraft.
The take-off field has dimensions of 1,320 m x 150 m. RWY 1,200 m x 27 m. PPS 80 m x 48 m. Only flights in VFR conditions are allowed: cloud base not lower than 300 m, visibility not less than 2,000 m, wind speed not greater than 30 knots along the runway axis. Flight altitude not lower than 200 m. Left and right airport circles allowed. Takeoff and Approach Direction: 347 degrees, TH Elevation 437.5 m, 167 degrees, TH Elevation 449.5 m. Asphalt runway, rises in direction 35 (from 1435 to 1475 ft). Parking apron near threshold 17. Landing fee PLN 20. ULC registration number: 161. VFR conditions mean that flights are only accepted and departed from sunrise to sunset.
Report arrivals by phone +48 668 599 442, +48 730 585 868. Radio frequency 136.500 MHz, call Arłamów Radio. This is how the AFIS service operates, which conducts correspondence in Polish and English. The service also provides information about the current and predicted weather.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman