Ploče

43°02'19"N 017°25'47"E

runway: 01/19 - 1200x23m - asphalt

Ploče airfield (Croat: Zračna luka Ploče, ICAO: LDDP) was a small airport 330 kilometer southeast of Zagreb.
The airfield was built in the delta of the Neretva river, just south of the port of Ploče.
The airfield was used by Lynx AH7 and AH9 of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (AAC) and by Chinook HC1 and Puma HC1 helicopters of the Royal Air Force's Support Helicopter Force (SHF) from the summer of 1995. For the helicopters, a large platform was built northeast of the original platform. 

In February 1997, the base became a French led Multinational Army Aviation Battalion of Multinational Division - Southeast (MND-SE) of SFOR, the peace keeping forces for Bosnia. In 2001 the base operated French "Bataillon de l'Aviation légère de l'Armée de Terre" or BATALAT (Army Air Battalion), with four SA-330 Pumas and four SA-342 M/M1 Gazelles and a Spanish detachment of BHELMA II (2nd Manoeuvring Helicopter Battalion), "Fuerzas Aeromobiles del Ejercito de Tierra" or FAMET (Spanish Army Aviation Corps), composed of two AS-532UL Cougars. 

Aerial photography taken in 2001 and 2002 (Google Earth) showed the airfield was still active those years. Helicopters were still visible on the platform, and a small fixed wing aircraft was recognisable on the original airfield platform. EUFOR left in the early 2000's however. The airfield has since seen redevelopment into a port storage facility for Ploče harbour, which is redeveloping into a mainport for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Plans for a replacement airfield elsewhere in the Neretva valley do not appear to have materialised yet.


Overview of Ploce in 2001, with the helicopter base to the northeast of the runway (Google Earth).


Detail of the photo above, showing 5 Puma/Cougar sized helicopters on the platform (Google Earth)


The airfield in 2002, the last photo I could find of the active airfield (Google Earth).


Detail of the 2002 photo above. 4 helicopters are present at the helicopter base, and a single fixed wing aircraft can be seen on the southwest corner of the platform of the original airfield. Note also that the 'piano keys' and the runway Marking '19' have not been replaced with large 'X' markings, indicating the airfield is still an active airfield, in spite of the large building immediately next to the treshold! (Google Earth)


What remains of Ploce airfield in 2013. Although the location of the runway is still recognisable, it has been converted into a local road. The former helicopter base appears to have been covered with coal or ore. Only a portion of the original platform remains. (Google Earth).