Bystričany Airstrip

The closure was a result of economic changes and land redevelopment. The airstrip's original purpose as a base for agricultural aviation became largely obsolete following the decline of large-scale, state-sponsored agricultural cooperatives in Slovakia after 1989. The land was ultimately sold and repurposed for a more economically viable project, a solar power plant, which made the airfield's existence untenable.

The site of the former Bystričany Airstrip is now completely occupied by a large photovoltaic power plant (solar farm). The grass runway and any associated structures have been entirely removed and replaced by thousands of solar panels and related energy infrastructure. The transformation is so complete that, from satellite view, no trace of the former airstrip remains.

Bystričany Airstrip was a utility airfield, part of a dense network of agricultural airstrips established during the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic era. Its sole purpose was to serve as an operational base for agricultural aircraft. The state-owned company Slov-Air operated from here, using aircraft like the Zlín Z-37 Čmelák ('Bumblebee') and the Antonov An-2 for crop dusting, fertilization, and pest control for the large collective farms in the Horná Nitra region. It was a workhorse airfield, crucial for local agriculture at the time, but it never handled passenger traffic or significant general aviation.

There are zero prospects for reopening the airstrip. The land has been permanently and irreversibly repurposed for industrial-scale renewable energy generation. Re-establishing an airport would require the complete removal of the multi-million euro solar farm, making it financially and logistically infeasible.