Forgotten airfields europe

Validation date: 19 06 2015
Updated on: Never
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See on the interactive map:

54°53'19"N 023°46'04"E

Runway: 01/19 - 400x20m - asphalt

Ringaudai airfield (Ringaudai aerodromas) was an airfield 100 kilometers west of Vilnius.

The airfield was built by order of the Lithuanian SSR (a state within the Soviet Union) Council of Ministers in the 1975-1985 timeframe. It was used for agricultural activities by state-run Aeroflot. It consisted of a small runway, a medium sized platform to the west of the runway and a smaller platform to its south. After Lithuanian independence the airfield was abandoned.

No photos or maps of the airfield while in use have been located

Undated aerial photography of the airfield (Google Earth) suggests the airfield is in reasonable shape, although debris (dirt mostly) appears to have been dumped on the northern end of the runway in mid 2014. A metal shed/hangar exists west of the platform It is abandoned and therefore officially closed to all traffic.

On this photograph from April 2009 the airfield appeared to be fairly clean. the hangar-type building can be easily seen and between the two platforms a home and garden is visible (Google Earth).

On this photograph from May 2012 the runway, taxiways and platforms still appeared to be fit for operations (Google Earth)

The hangar-like shed as seen from a public road west of the airfield in June 2012 (Google Streetview)

Although many vehicles can be seen parked at the airfield in this photograph from March 2014 the airfield otherwise appeared to be fairly clean (Google Earth)

By September 2014 however, dirt piles appeared on the northern edges of the runway and on the southern end on the runway itself (Google Earth).