Warsaw-Babice (ICAO code: EPBC) is an airport in Warsaw, located in the residential district of Bemowo, near the border with the district of Bielany. It is also unofficially known as Bemowo.

The airport is administered by the Centre for Logistics "Warsaw-Babice" (Centrum Usług Logistycznych "Lotnisko Warszawa-Babice") and organisations based there include: the Warsaw Aero Club (Aeroklub Warszawski) and Polish Air Rescue (Lotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe).

It has been used for various events and celebrity arrivals including Michael Jackson (1996), Madonna (2009), AC/DC (2010), and the Sonisphere Festival (2010, 2011, 2012).

Infrastructure

The airport has a concrete runway 10R/28L, measuring 1300 m x 90 m, and, parallel to it, a grass runway 10L/28R, measuring 1000 m x 150 m.

The airport was established at the former military airport in Bemowo. It had two concrete runways 5/23 measuring 2000 m x 80 m and 10R/28L measuring 2500 m x 90 m. One of the former runways was used as an extension to the residential Powstańców Śląskich Street. Only part of the second, longer runway was used for the new airport.

View of the airport from the air to the southwest. The photo draws attention to Powstańców Śląskich Street which is a street on the path of the former second runway. The paved runway 10R/28L in use is only a part of its former length. (click to enlarge)

Radio frequencies

• 119.175 MHz - Babice Informacja (Babice Information for English speakers)
• 122.300 MHz - Babice Radio

History

The site of the current airport was used as a landing strip for Russian and German airplanes. In 1918 it was one of the bases for the Research Institute of Aviation Technology (Instytutu Badań Techniki Lotniczej - IBTL) which then changed into the Technical Institute of Aviation (Instytut Techniczny Lotnictwa - ITL).

The airport was reestablished after World War II, at "Szwedzkich Górkach" (Swedish Hills) between Fort P (part of the Warsaw Fortress ) and Boernerowo outside Warsaw (during this period, it was in the municipality of Gmina Blizne based in Old Babice , hence the name of the airport).

In 1959, a Boeing 707 transporting U.S. Vice-President Richard Nixon , used the airport.

Singer Michael Jackson performed at Bemowo on September 19, 1996 during his HIStory World Tour in front of 120,000 of people.

Due to the heavy urbanization around the airport, to ensure safety and to ease the burden of airport operations for locals, a custom procedure (only used in Poland) to circulate traffic was introduced, which caused controversy among pilots and instructors. There still is a conflict of interest between the airport and local residents.

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