Arłamów

49°39'31"N 022°30'57"E

runway: 17/35 - 1230x150meters/3914x115feet - asphalt

Air field Arłamów (Polish: Lotnisko Krajna, Lotnisko Arłamów, Lotnisko Górna, Lotnisko Trójca or Lotnisko Łomna, ICAO: EPAR) is a small private airfield in the southeast of Poland, 300 kilometers south-southeast of Warsaw. The airfield was built in the second half of the 1970s near a secret luxurious recreational complex (Arlamów). The area, in the middle of a difficult to access forested area, was a very popular destination for high-ranking Polish Communist Government officials. 
To ease accessibility a dedicated airport was decided to be built. A suitable site was found at the location of the wartorn village of Krajna, less then 15 kilometers (9 miles) away. Construction was done by the 16th Airport Construction Battallion (16 batallion budowy lotnisk). At the northern end of the runway an apron was built. There were no airfield buildings however, as arrivals were immediately picked up by limousines and brought to their resorts or hunting lodges.
The runway was long enough to allow Party officials to fly in by propeller aircraft or small jets. Larger jets, often with international guests, would fly to Rzeszów airport and drive the remainder of the trip .

After the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1990 the airfield fel into disuse. It was occasionally still used by small aircraft, or used by the mililtary during exercises. The RAF flew a C-130 Hercules from the airfield during manouevres with the Polish army, for instance. More often it is used for car and drag races however.
Until recently, the airfield was classified as "other place for take-off and landing" and the formal manager of the airfield was the Directorate of State Forests in Krosno. The Directorate however, was not interested in keeping the runway, which was often used as a timber yard. Still, according to people that were at the airfield in 2010, it was still in a fairly decent condition, "in much better condition than the airports held by some aeroclubs" (in Polish).


An RAF Hercules operating from a snow covered Krajna airfield. The subscript says: "Joint winter exercises of SAS and GROM soldiers in Poland" (photo archive of GROM, via lotnictwo.net.pl).


Aerial view of the airstrip, ca 2004 (Google Earth)


Krajna airfield in 2005 (Wikipedia).


Aerial view of the airstrip looking north in 2010 (lotnika.mobi).

The airfield was revitalised in 2012. The former Communist Party Hotel, now converted into a luxurious residence, had proposed to reopen the airfield the year before and the proposal had been accepted by local authorities. A small control tower was built near the platform that same year. The runway received new markers and the airfield was once again an active airfield, albeit strictly PPR. The airfield, now with a runway just over 1200meters long, claims to be capable of handling both propellor and jet flights up to 100 people.


The refurbished airfield, as it now appears on the website of the Arłamów hotel