Rahovec

Validation date: 30 05 2021
Updated on: Never
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42°22'23.3"N 20°37'12.2"E

Runway: 05/23 - 450x18m - Asphalt

Rahovec airfield was an airfield located 55km in the south/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 never implemented however.
The airfields were mainly used by Agro-Kosova for aerial agricultural application. These airfields were built in such a way they would 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.

2013 - aerial view (Google Earth)

The airfield in Rahovec is almost completely damaged. There are facilities of some sort on all sides of the runway and the first 50 meters in the western part of the runway are damaged, with some buildings constructed.
Within the perimeter of the airfield are fenced arable lands. Near the runway, within the perimeter of the airfield, is a building.

This airfield, in the current state, cannot be used for aeronautical activities. To be revitalised, some walls constructed on the western side should be demolished so the airfield can become operational with a minimal investment.
There are no other physical obstacles in the airspace near the airfield that would make impossible to conduct the potential aerial activities.

 

Information mainly from Civil Aviation Autority of Kosovo

 

(Research by Olivier)