S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport
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S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno aerodromas |
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Serves | Kaunas, Lithuania | ||||||||||
| Location | Aleksotas | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 246 ft / 75 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°52′48″N 023°52′54″E / 54.88000°N 23.88167°E | ||||||||||
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S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport (S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno aerodromas) (ICAO: EYKS), also known as Aleksotas Airport (Aleksoto aerodromas), is a small airport located in Aleksotas district of Kaunas City (Lithuania), about 3 kilometres South-west from city centre. On May 6, 1993, the airport was named after the Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, who perished in a crash near the end of an attempted non-stop flight from New York to Lithuania in 1933.
S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport was conceived as military airport, established by German Army in 1915, after it captured Kaunas Fortress. Used continuously since then it is the oldest functioning airport in Lithuania, making it also one of the oldest airports in Europe. The airport area underwent major upgrades in 1926, 1931, 1942 (800 m. concrete runway with taxiways, repair hangars built), 1950's (concrete runway extension to 1330 m.) and 1970's (passenger terminal, navigation equipment).
During the Interwar period, when Kaunas was Lithuania's capital, Aleksotas Airport was used as primary base of Lithuanian Air Force. It also served as test ground for locally built airplanes, like Dobi I, Dobi II, Dobi III by Jurgis Dobkevičius, Anbo I, Anbo II, Anbo III, Anbo IV and Anbo 41, Anbo V, Anbo VI, Anbo VII and Anbo VIII by Antanas Gustaitis, gliders.
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