Jūrmala airport

Jūrmala airport (ICAO: EVJA) is an airport located 5 km (3 mi) in the Engure parish, Latvia, southeast of Tukums.

All of the airport's technical infrastructure, runway and buildings are what was left of the former Soviet military Tukums air base, which was a spartan military airfield with a single long ramp and reveted area. The base was completely abandoned, but in 2010 the conversion of the base to a civil airport with passenger terminals started.

History

The aviation history in the area starts in early 1930s, when the first hangar and workshop were constructed. During World War II an airfield was built for German Luftwaffe.

After the war it was operated by the Soviet Navy, flying Su-24 (Fencer) aircraft operated by 668 MShAP (668 мшап, 668th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment) . Another source gives 240 MShAP (240th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment).

In the spring of 1993 the airfield was recognized as Reserve Airfield of Tukums (RAT) of the Latvian Air Forces. Since July 31, 2001 the Tukums airfield belonged to Smārde parish. On March 15, 2005 Tukums Airport Ltd. was established. In 2005–2006 renovation of the runway and in 2009–2010 construction of the passenger terminal has started. In 2011 ILS and VOR/DME installation and light-signal system certification has been completed.

Jūrmala

Jūrmala (Latvian pronunciation: [juːrmala] "seaside"; German: Riga-Strand, Baltische Riviera) is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometres (16 miles) west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching 32 km (20 miles) and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a 33 km (21 miles) stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 55,580, making it the fifth largest city in Latvia.

While Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev. Although it has many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. Jūrmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style.

Imants Ziedonis, one of Latvia's most important poets and folklorists of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, was born in Jūrmala district.

In publications dating from the Soviet period, the city name was occasionally spelled in English as Yurmala, a back-transliteration from Russian.