Soewondo Air Force Base

Soewondo Air Force Base

Pangkalan Udara Soewondo
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerGovernment of Indonesia
OperatorAngkasa Pura II
ServesMedan
LocationMedan, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Opened1928 (1928)
Passenger services ceased25 July 2013 (2013-07-25)
Elevation AMSL114 ft / 35 m
Coordinates03°33′29″N 98°40′18″E / 3.55806°N 98.67167°E / 3.55806; 98.67167
Websitewww.poloniaairport.com
Map
MES
Location of airport in Medan, Northern Sumatra, Sumatra and Indonesia
MES
MES (Northern Sumatra)
MES
MES (Sumatra)
MES
MES (Indonesia)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05/23 3,000 9,843 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Passengers7,890,796
Aircraft movements65,966
Cargo38,813,435
Source: DAFIF

Soewondo Air Force Base (IATA: MES, ICAO: WIMK) is currently a military airbase in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Before 2013, this airport served commercial flights, and was known as Polonia International Airport (Bandar Udara Internasional Polonia) which was the principal airport serving Medan, about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the downtown; it used to serve flights to several Indonesian and Malaysian cities, along with a flight to Singapore and Thailand. Previous international flights had been opened to Hong Kong, Taipei, Amsterdam, Abu Dhabi, Phuket, Chennai, Johor Bahru, Malacca and Ipoh.

At the end of its service as civil airport, Polonia was the fourth largest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno–Hatta, Juanda, and I Gusti Ngurah Rai, in terms of passenger numbers. Passenger service charges for each passenger departing through the domestic terminal was IDR 35,000 ($4.1) and IDR 75,000 ($8.8) for the international terminal.

All flights and services from this airport shifted to Kualanamu International Airport on 25 July 2013. Following the airport's opening, Polonia's ICAO code was changed from WIMM to WIMK, since WIMM is assigned for Kuala Namu.

Now as Soewondo Air Force Base, the airport belongs to the Indonesian Air Force. It hosts the Western Surveillance Wing including eight CN-235 tactical surveillance airplanes.