Nässuma Airstrip

Military abandonment. The airstrip was a Soviet military installation that became redundant and was abandoned following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces from Estonia. After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, such military sites were decommissioned. There was no economic or civilian need to maintain the airfield.

The site is completely abandoned and in a state of decay. The concrete runway is severely deteriorated, with large cracks, fragmentation, and significant overgrowth of grass and trees. Some sections of the former runway and taxiways are now used as a local gravel/dirt road for agricultural or forestry access. There are no intact aviation-related buildings, such as hangars or a control tower, remaining on the site. The land has largely reverted to nature or is used for low-intensity agriculture.

Nässuma Airstrip was a Soviet-era reserve (zapasnoy aerodrom) military airfield constructed during the Cold War. It was part of a dense network of military installations on the strategically vital island of Saaremaa, which was a heavily militarized and restricted-access zone during the Soviet occupation. The primary purpose of Nässuma was not to host a permanent air regiment but to serve as a dispersal airfield. In the event of a conflict, aircraft from main operating bases (like those in Estonia or the Leningrad Military District) would be moved to smaller, less conspicuous airfields like Nässuma to reduce their vulnerability to a first strike. The airfield featured a single concrete runway, approximately 2000-2500 meters long, capable of handling Soviet tactical aircraft.

There are no known or credible plans to reopen Nässuma Airstrip. The island of Saaremaa is adequately served by Kuressaare Airport (EKE), which handles all of the region's commercial and general aviation traffic. The cost to clear the land and rebuild the runway and infrastructure at Nässuma to modern standards would be substantial and there is no economic, civilian, or military justification for such a project.