Radom Airport (IATA: RDO , ICAO: EPRA ), also known as Radom-Sadków Airport is a civil and military airport in central Poland, located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Radom city center. The name "Sadków" comes from the suburb of Radom in which the airport is located. The airport has been in operation since the 1920s. The airport has one 2000x45m (6,562x147,6 ft) runway. The middle section is asphalt concrete, with 200m and 230m end sections of concrete. Taxiways are 14 meters wide and were renovated in the year 2000.

Radom Airport (click to enlarge)

History

Airport construction started in May 1929 to serve as a training facility for the first Polish civilian pilot training school. In April 1932 it was handed over to the Ministry of Military Affairs (the equivalent of the Polish Ministry of National Defenceat the time), which expanded the facility by buying more land; building hangars, barracks and a shooting range; and started training military pilots and paratroopers. Training continued until World War II.

During the War's first days German forces bombed the airport, destroying aircraft and hangars and causing the personnel to evacuate. During the occupation of Poland, the Luftwaffe used it for training and preparation of German pilots for battle on the Eastern Front. By the end of the war the airport was mined and heavily damaged. The Polish military returned to Sadków in March 1945 and since then pilot training has continued until today.

On 30 June 2006 Gmina Radom established Port Lotniczy Radom S.A. with a 22 million złoty budget to prepare Radom-Sadków for civilian operations. It became the airport operator on 24 January 2007. At the end of January 2011 a free-lease agreement for a 125 hectares (310 acres; 0.48 sq mi) civilian and military joint use airport area was signed. In September that year the Polish Civil Aviation Office issued a permit for civilian operations after fulfilling Chicago Convention requirements. In January 2012 works on an airport lighting project commenced.

In July 2012 the airport has acquired the former Terminal 2 building of Łódź Airport together with all its equipment for 2 mln zł. Its re-assembly started in January 2013 and was completed in March 2014. It is able to serve two Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 class aircraft at the same time.

Radom city council adapted the military airport in Sadków to serve domestic and international flights and was issued with a civilian airport certificate by the Civil Aviation Office in May 2014.

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency installed a DVOR/DME navigation system at the airport in December 2014.

Initial operations

In May 2015, one year after the certification, AirBaltic was the first airline to announce scheduled flights from Radom. The Latvian carrier scheduled three weekly flights to its home base in Riga with Bombardier Q400, starting on September 1.

Czech Airlines was the second carrier to announce flights out of Radom in July 2015. The airline filed three-weekly flights from Radom to its hub in Prague using ATR 42 aircraft starting on September 18.

Both carriers commenced the flights as planned. Loads were very low. Overall, the airport handled some 220 passengers in September, equal to six travelers on each flight.

Czech Airlines decided to discontinue its flights from and to Radom with effect of late October, that had an average load of three passengers. The suspension was officially caused by the lack of de-icing equipment.

airBaltic followed and announced on short notice to cancel its services and end its co-operation with the airport from November 18 onwards. According to Wyborcza, flights to Riga even got surpassed by flights on the Prague route in terms of success.
airBaltic hereby left the airport without any scheduled flights less than just three months after they had begun.

Resumption of flights

On 11 December 2015, Polish press informed that flights to Prague out of Radom would already resume on December 20. Initially, the carrier would offer one rotation on Saturdays, before adding a second rotation on Fridays from January 8. On February 1, a third weekly frequency on Mondays would be started.

Flights were chartered through Radom and due to operate with ATR 42 and 72. Instead of a direct flight, the connection was operated as an add-on to Czech Airline´s existing services to Ostrava, meaning that the plane would make a brief stop in Ostrava on both directions. Distance between Radom an Ostrava is 180 miles while the route from Ostrava and Prague has a length of 174 miles, adding up to 354 miles. In comparison, the direct line between Radom and Prague is 317 miles long. Flights between Ostrava and Radom alone were not put on sale.

Operations commenced as scheduled. The first service saw an occupation of the passengers to Radom while there were no travelers on the return flight. The agreement only was valid until February 22 with an extension possible in case of success. No extension was made.

The airport was thereby left again without any scheduled flights by 22 February 2016.

Sprint Air revives airport

On 26 February 2016, Polish regional airline SprintAir announced it would commence operations from Radom in collaboration with the airport. From April 18 the carrier based one Saab 340 aircraft at Radom Airport for flights to Berlin Tegel, Gdańsk, Prague and Wroclaw. All routes are being served twice-weekly with the exception of Gdansk which has one rotation a week. Fares on domestic flights start at 99 PLN per direction, and 149 PLN on international routes. The contract was extended on May 25 to also cover flights from June 20 on with a changed schedule. All four destinations were kept, although Prague operations were reduced while both domestic routes received an additional frequency per week.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines serve regular scheduled and charter services to and from Radom:

Ground transportation

Bus

The airport is currently served by bus route 14, running at 20-30 minute intervals, stopping at the airport's terminal during operation times.

Road access

Radom-Sadków Airport is located about 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Radom's city centre and can be accessed via Żeromskiego and Lubelska streets. National roads 9 and 12 run adjacent to the airport and European route E77 goes through Radom on its western side about 5.5 km (3.4 mi) from the airport.

Rail

An existing rail line from Radom railway station to the airport grounds near the terminal could be used for passenger service in the future. Temporary passenger rail services have been operated for the Radom Air Show.

Terminal 2 building in use at Łódź Airport before dismantling (click to enlarge)

Terminal building and parking during construction (click to enlarge)

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