page_title: Podgorica Airport
section_title: Military usage
hierarchical_section_title: Podgorica Airport / Military usage
caption_attribution_description: English: Post-strike bomb damage assessment photograph of the Podgorica Airfield, Montenegro, used by Joint Staff Vice Director for Strategic Plans and Policy Maj. Gen. Charles F. Wald, U.S. Air Force, during a press briefing on NATO Operation Allied Force in the Pentagon on April 22, 1999. Deutsch: US-Aufklärungsfoto des serbischen Luftwaffenstützpunkts Podgorica nach Luftangriffen der NATO im Rahmen der Operation Allied Force am 22. April 1999. See also&#160;: File:Defense.gov News Photo 990422-O-9999M-005.jpg before bombing File:Defense.gov News Photo 990413-O-0000K-002.jpg after bombing
context_page_description: Podgorica Airport is an international airport serving the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica and the surrounding region. It is one of two international airports in Montenegro, the other being Tivat Airport. Both are operated by the state-owned company Airports of Montenegro.
  The airport is situated 11 km south of central Podgorica, in the Zeta Plain, one of the few flat areas of Montenegro suitable for a large airport. The airport is locally known as Golubovci Airport, as it is located within the administrative boundaries of the town of Golubovci. The IATA code of the airport is still TGD because Podgorica was named Titograd from 1946 to 1992, during which time the airport opened. It is the main hub for Montenegro Airlines and Di Air.
context_section_description: Podgorica Airport is a public international airport, but shares the main runway with Podgorica's military airbase. Military facilities include an 80-hectare (200-acre) airbase area adjacent to the main runway, as well as the Šipčanik complex.
  The Šipčanik complex consisted of an underground aircraft shelter tunneled into the eponymous hill, and an adjacent narrow 08/26 runway, which could be used to scramble jets stored in the shelter. This runway is connected to the main airport complex via a 3-kilometer-long (9,800 ft) taxiway cut through surrounding vineyards. The complex was seriously damaged during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, and was subsequently converted into a wine cave by the Plantaže company.
  In early December 1999, the airport was briefly seized by the Army of Yugoslavia in a standoff between the central government and the Montenegrin authorities after Montenegro tried to control the airport independently of Belgrade. When Montenegro became independent on 3 June 2006, the newly formed Military of Montenegro announced that it would not maintain a combat air force. Nine G-4 Super Galebs are currently sitting unused at the base.
caption: Damage done to Podgorica Airport after the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
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