Morava Airport , also known as Lađevci Airport, is a mixed public and militaryairport in Lađevci, Serbia - some 15 km from Kraljevo, 25 km from Čačak, and 39 km from Kragujevac. The airport has been divided into two distinct parts: the 98th Air Base of the Serbian Air Force has kept the name Lađevci whereas civilian terminal building bears the name Morava Airport.
History
Early years
Lađevci airbase was originally used as a support airfield for the 98th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Yugoslav Air Force based at Skopski Petrovac airbase in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Lađevci airbase became more active when the 98th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment was transferred from Petrovac to Kraljevo. From then at airfield there were few units of FR Yugoslav Air Force, 98th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment with its 241st Fighter-Bomber Aviation Squadron equipped with J-22 Orao attack aircraft, 353rd Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron equipped with IJ-22 Orao reconnaissance aircraft and the 714th Anti-Tank Helicopter Squadron equipped with SA.342L Gazelle Gama attack helicopters. During 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the airport and runway were badly damaged.
Recent developments
In 2006, the Government of Serbia began conversion of the airport to provide civilian traffic. In the first phase, the new control tower was constructed. Then in 2011, new terminal building was built that can service both passenger and cargo flights. This is expected to be followed by the second phase – broadening and extending of the existing runway, presently 30 metres wide to a width of 45 metres and length of 2,750 metres, upon which the airport will be able to receive the largest passenger or cargo aircraft. The first passenger aircraft at Morava Airport landed on October 4, 2011; a Jat AirwaysATR 72-202 carried then-president Boris Tadić along with other government officials for a media briefing regarding the recovery effort from the 2010 Kraljevo earthquake. Jat Airways planned to introduce regular traffic between Kraljevo and Istanbul in 2012, but it never materialized. As of 2017, Morava Airport has the potential to become an international airport if further efforts are made. The Serbian government has announced the opening of Kraljevo's Morava Airport on June 28, making it the country's third commercial airport after Belgrade and Niš. Wizz Air had previously expressed interest in serving Morava Airport and said it was "monitoring developments". Furthermore, the Serbian government previously announced it was willing to enter into a public-private partnership agreement with a German company which would operate services from Kraljevo to both Frankfurt and Istanbul. The name of the company was not specified. In addition, part of the Raška District, in which Kraljevo is located, has close historical ties with Turkey and a portion of the local population is expected to use this airport, instead of Pristina, for future flights to Istanbul. Despite the announcements from the Serbian Government that a larger plane, namely Boeing 737, would land on the opening day, that did not happen. Instead, like 8 years ago, a twin-engine turboprop ATR 72-500 landed, carrying the dignitaries on a special flight. Morava Airport was officially opened on 28 June 2019. Some earlier reports suggested that several carriers would introduce regular flights from the airport. Estimates at that point were that it would handle around 20,000 passengers in 2019, and between 100,000 - 150,000 in 2020. In the run-up to the new services, the International Air Transport Association has officially assigned Morava Airport its three-letter location identifier - KVO.
