Gorokhovets Airport

Primarily economic reasons following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The vast, state-subsidized network of Local Air Lines (Местные воздушные линии - МВЛ) became financially unsustainable. With the end of subsidies, soaring fuel and maintenance costs, and a sharp decline in passenger traffic due to economic hardship, thousands of small, local airfields like Gorokhovets were abandoned as their routes were no longer viable.

The airport is completely abandoned and defunct. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows a clearly defined but heavily overgrown former grass/dirt runway. There are no visible signs of any remaining airport infrastructure like a terminal building or hangars. The land is crossed by dirt tracks and is returning to nature. It is not used for any formal purpose and is inaccessible as an active airfield.

Gorokhovets Airport was a typical small, unpaved airfield within the Soviet Union's extensive local aviation network. Its significance was purely local, serving as a vital link for the town of Gorokhovets and surrounding rural areas. Operations primarily consisted of short-haul flights connecting the town to the regional administrative center, Vladimir, and possibly other nearby towns. The workhorse of the airport would have been the Antonov An-2 biplane, used for carrying a small number of passengers (around 12), mail, light cargo, and for medical transport (sanitary aviation). It played a key role in regional connectivity at a time when long-distance road travel was less developed.

There are no known plans or realistic prospects for reopening Gorokhovets Airport. The economic model that supported such small-scale airfields disappeared with the Soviet Union. The region is now well-served by road (including the major M7 Volga Highway) and rail, making a subsidized, short-haul air service economically unjustifiable for a town of Gorokhovets' size. The land has likely been re-designated and would require complete reconstruction to be used for aviation again, for which there is no apparent demand.