Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9.pdf/29

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9

only city other than Prague to receive service from a foreign airline is Bratislava, into which Aeroflot and Interflug fly.

I. Airfields (S)

The air-facilities system consists of 135 operational airfields: 36 military, 13 joint civil and military, and 86 that normally are used only by civil aircraft. About 50% of all Czechoslovak airfields are small sod-surfaced fields used by aeroclub, airtaxi, agricultural, and ambulance aircraft. Runways that are 6,000 feet or more in length are found at 56 airfields: of this group, 32 fields have hard-surfaced runways and 24 natural-surfaced landing areas.

Airfield distribution follows the population and industry pattern; the greater number is situated in or west of the Morava-Oder Corridor. Of the airfields supporting tactical aircraft, only Soviet-occupied Sliac lies east of the corridor.

The air-facilities system is adequate for normal civil requirements. During the 1960's the principal civil airfields were greatly improved. Runways were extended at Prague/Ruzyne and Bratislava/Ivanka, and new terminal buildings were added at these two and at Brno/Turany. A concrete runway was added at Poprad/Tatry in 1969 and extended to 8,500 feet in 1971.

Czechoslovakia has two multirunway airfields: Prague/Ruzyne, which has four runways—the longest 10,700 feet; and Bratislava/Ivanka, which has two runways—the longer measuring 9,500 feet. The longest in the entire air-facilities system—11,500 feet—is at the Mosnov airfield, which probably was built to meet Soviet specifications for sustained heavy bomber usage in accordance with a Warsaw Pact agreement. The Mosnov runway is in a class with the one at Gross Dolln, East Germany, and that of the Powidz field in Poland. Figure 13 gives details on selected airfields.

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110013-9