Novi Sad Airfield

Novi Sad Airfield (Аеродром Нови Сад / Aerodrom Novi Sad), also known as Čenej Airfield (Аеродром Ченеј / Aerodrom Čenej), is located near the village of Čenej in Vojvodina, Serbia. The site is mostly used for sport and agriculture, operated by Aero Club Novi Sad (Аероклуб Нови Сад / Aeroklub Novi Sad).

Novi Sad Airfield is expected to be opened for civilian flights soon. The City of Novi Sad plans to launch civil aviation operations, and connect Novi Sad to airports like Thessaloniki, Tivat, Budapest, Ljubljana, Vienna and others.

It is 16 km (10 mi) north of the city of Novi Sad, on the eastern side of the A1 motorway.

First Novi Sad Airfield
The history of aviation in Novi Sad began over a century ago. The first city airfield was opened in 1913 in what is today Jugovićevo neighborhood. Back then the airfield did not have a name and was exclusively used for military use by the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces. Initially, the airfield had only grassy runways for landing and taking off military aircraft, while the hangars were on neighboring Sajlovo. In 1916, airport facilities, barracks and technical workshops were built here. A Serbian squadron, when it landed on French planes in November 1918 after liberation found 11 wooden hangars here. After World War I it was in the service of the Royal Yugoslav Army. Later, six brick hangars were erected, followed by headquarters, aeroplane workshops, officers' quarters, etc. At that time the city was the center of the Yugoslav aircraft industry, with an Airplane workshop factory opened in 1920. Since September 1920, a weather station has been operating here. Since 1924, the airport has celebrated the aviation Slava of Saint Elijah (August 2nd), and since 1926 the King's Cup competition has been held regularly on the birthday of Crown Prince Peter on September 6.

After the death of the Yugoslav airforce commander Jovan Jugović in 1926 the airport would take the name of Jugovićevo in 1928. At this airport was the first pilot school. There were also schools for reserve aviation officers, for scouts, aircraft mechanics, and other specialist purposes.

During World War II, at the beginning of the Invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the airport would be bombed by the German Air Force. After the occupation of Bačka, the Germans built a 800-metre-long concrete runway and used the airport to fly and service planes intended for the Eastern Front. The Red Army and NOV ("Narodna Oslobodilačka Vojska", or the Socialist Yugoslav Army) have been holding planes there since October 1944, operating on the Srem front and later in the final operations to liberate Yugoslavia. Since the mid-1950s, Jugovićevo lost its military significance. Today there is a military unit ("Majevica" barracks) stationed there. The military airport was moved to Batajnica for strategic reasons since 1951.

Aero Club Novi Sad
Aero Club Novi Sad was established on 11 November 1923, as a branch of the Royal Aero Club for Novi Sad. Originally located at Jugovićevo Airport, since 14 June 1953 it operates at Čenej Airfield. For over 100 years of its existence the aero club has had hundreds of members, performed more than 50,000 parachute jumps, more than 120,000 flights, and 40,000 flying hours. Pilots, gliders, parachutists and aircraft mechanics are trained in this club.

The aero club has organized numerous national and international competitions and events in the field of aviation. Many members of the club were members of the national team, with two world records that were achieved by members of the club (number of jumps in one day and group high jumps) are held unbroken to this day.

Second Novi Sad Airfield
The second city airfield was opened on 14 June 1953 near the village of Čenej, 16 kilometers from the first airport. It was used as an aviation center for Vojvodina.

Čenej was chosen by the commander of the aviation center Sredoje Pajić due to its location, being on the road connecting with Subotica. The airfield has a grassy runway, mostly used by helicopters, sports and smaller planes to take off from.

The idea of building an international airport on this site is not new. The construction of the control tower began in 1994, however as of 2024, the airport has not been completed. A 2,500 meters asphalt runway capable of accommodating 70 to 80 seater aircraft is planned. The air corridor above Novi Sad has about 800 movements per day, of which 50 are so-called 'mini-business' flights.

The site also has favourable prevailing winds. Meteorological data for the last 20 years shows the fewest fog affected days in the area per year.

On May 22, 2004, a Let L-410UVP-E Turbolet aircraft with 20 passengers aboard, which had departed from Tivat Airport, landed at the airfield. The aircraft belonged to Di Air, a Montenegrin airline. It was a promotional flight aimed at showing interest in developing this airfield in the future.

On August 14, 2019 the first international flight landed at Novi Sad Airfield. A German businessman who has a factory in Vojvodina flew in on a Cessna 340, and the aero club which operates the airfield, did the groundwork for the first international flight.

Airport plans
On April 5, 2012 Government of Vojvodina decided to develop the aerodrome for civilian traffic. It was planned that the Čenej Airport finish construction of its terminal building by the end of 2015, in order to service passenger, business, low cost and cargo flights.

Provincial authorities originally planned that the airport would open for passenger service in 2015, and upon completion, to use the concept of public-private partnerships to provide additional funding. The airport is expected look similar to the airport in Tivat, Montenegro.

A model of the airport was presented by the Faculty of Technical Sciences from the University of Novi Sad. The airport was designed as an airport of "C" type with the outgoing and the incoming terminal, business object, with the control tower, and will occupy an area of about 7 hectares without a runway and internal roads.

Total investment in the airport will be 20 million euros.

The plan is to retain a grass runway for sports aviation and to build a 1,760-metre concrete runway, 30 meters wide for commercial flights. The airport will then bear the 3-C mark, which will be able to land planes with wingspan from 24 to 36 meters and a maximum capacity of about 100 passengers.