Varfolomeyevka, RU 🇷🇺 Closed Airport
RU-0542
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- ft
RU-PRI
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 44.28045° N, 133.41152° E
Continent: EU
Type: Closed Airport
Varfolomeyevka Southwest Airfield (RU-0542), also known as Varfolomeyevka Air Base (ICAO: UHIF), is primarily a military installation located in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It serves as the home for the 799th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron. There is no publicly available information or recent traveler reviews suggesting that this airfield handles commercial passenger traffic. As such, there are no reported traveler sentiments, details on terminal facilities, security wait times, customs experiences, or transportation connections for this location.
Due to its designation as a military air base and the absence of any information regarding commercial passenger operations, it is not possible to summarize traveler reviews or experiences for Varfolomeyevka Southwest Airfield (RU-0542). There are no recorded strengths or common complaints from travelers as the airfield does not appear to cater to public air travel.
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The airfield is believed to have ceased operations in the early to mid-1990s. While an exact date is not publicly documented, its closure coincides with the period of widespread military downsizing and budget cuts that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The primary reason for closure was military restructuring and economic factors. This airfield was a dispersal (or reserve) base for the main Varfolomeyevka Air Base. With the end of the Cold War, the strategic need for numerous dispersal airfields diminished. The Russian military consolidated its forces and abandoned many secondary installations like this one due to a lack of funding for maintenance and personnel.
The airfield is completely abandoned and in a state of advanced decay. Satellite imagery shows its single concrete runway is severely cracked, weathered, and being reclaimed by nature, with significant vegetation growing through the surface. It is entirely unusable for aviation. There are no buildings or infrastructure remaining on the site, and it does not appear to be used for any other purpose, such as agriculture or storage. The site is derelict.
Varfolomeyevka Southwest was a classic Soviet-era military dispersal airfield. Its strategic purpose during the Cold War was to increase the survivability of air assets from the main Varfolomeyevka Air Base (UHWV), located just a few kilometers to the northeast. In the event of a potential conflict or a surprise attack on the main base, aircraft such as Su-17, Su-24, and Su-25 fighter-bombers and reconnaissance jets could be rapidly moved to this secondary, less-obvious strip. This would complicate enemy targeting and ensure a portion of the air regiment could survive a first strike to mount a counter-attack. The airfield was a key element of the Soviet Union's defensive military doctrine in the Russian Far East.
There are no known or publicly discussed plans to reopen or re-purpose the Varfolomeyevka Southwest Airfield. Given its advanced state of deterioration, the significant cost required for reconstruction, and its strategic redundancy due to the proximity of the active Varfolomeyevka Air Base, any prospect of reopening is extremely unlikely.