Vittel-Auzainvilliers Airfield

The airfield was rendered obsolete and closed following the construction and opening of the new, more modern Vittel-Contrexéville Airport (IATA: VTL, ICAO: LFSZ) nearby. The closure was for reasons of consolidation and modernization, as the new airport offered superior facilities, including a paved runway, to better serve the region's general aviation and tourism needs.

The site has been completely decommissioned and returned to agricultural use. Satellite imagery clearly shows the land is now comprised of cultivated fields. The faint outline or 'ghost' of the former runway is still visible from the air, but no aviation infrastructure remains on the site.

The airfield has significant World War II history. It was established as a temporary Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) IX Engineer Command and designated as 'ALG Y-1 Vittel'. It was active from late 1944 to mid-1945. The airfield supported P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers of the 365th Fighter Group and C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft. Its primary mission was to provide tactical air support for the US Third Army's advance into the Lorraine region and Germany. After the war, it was returned to French control and operated as a local civilian airfield for general aviation, serving the spa towns of Vittel and Contrexéville before its replacement.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Vittel-Auzainvilliers Airfield. The existence of the active and well-maintained Vittel-Contrexéville Airport (LFSZ) just a few kilometers away makes a reopening of the old site economically and logistically unfeasible. The land is now privately owned farmland, and re-establishing an airfield would be prohibitively expensive and unnecessary.