The airfield at Łososina Dolna (ICAO code: EPNL), situated along the Brzesko–Nowy Sącz road, 14.5 km north of Nowy Sącz, is the headquarters of the Podhale Aero Club. It has a grass runway measuring 800 x 150 m on heading 043°/223° and handles only VFR air traffic. It is located in Class G airspace extending to an altitude of 2,000 m (6,500 feet – FL 065), where it meets the Class C UTMA Kraków airspace. The airfield features two hangars, a fuel station, a training and technical building with a flight control tower, and a colony of camping cabins serving as accommodation for aero club guests.
The Podhale Aero Club was established under the name Nowy Sącz Aero Club in the wake of the October 1956 thaw. In November 1957, it received the name Podhale Aero Club, taking it over from the aero club in Nowy Targ, which was renamed the Tatra Aero Club. Initially, it operated at the glider field on Jodłowiec Hill in Tęgoborze. The lack of a landing strip on flat terrain prevented powered aircraft training and winch-launched glider flights. In 1958, the Aero Club received the backwater area of Lake Rożnów near the bridge in Kurów. The landing strip, located on flood-prone terrain, was not suitable for year-round use or the construction of permanent structures, which necessitated finding a site for building a new permanent airfield. The only such site was the grounds of the State Horse Breeding Farm in Łososina Dolna. In 1960, on the initiative of the Podhale Aero Club’s board, a Public Committee for the Construction of an Airfield in Łososina Dolna was established, which obtained support and grants from the Commander of the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of the Country, General Jan Frey-Bielecki. On his orders, engineering troops built the airfield apron and 700 m of road in 5 days. On the sixth day, September 17, 1960, a MiG-15 jet fighter landed at the new airfield (then approximately twice as long as it is today). On September 18, 1960, during the official opening combined with an air show, General Frey-Bielecki handed over the airfield for use by the Podhale Aero Club.
Plans for the construction of a dam on Lake Rożnów halted the development of infrastructure at the Łososina airfield for three years. Only when in 1963 the decision was made to postpone the dam’s construction did the building of airfield facilities begin. In 1965, the assembly of a hangar transferred from Jodłowiec was completed, and in 1966 the main aero club building was erected. In the 1970s, a second hangar was built.
Situated at the junction of the Wyspowy Beskids, the Wiśnicz Foothills, and the Rożnów Foothills, in the direct vicinity of the lake, the airfield at Łososina is one of the most beautiful in Poland. Sightseeing flights over Lake Rożnów are a major tourist attraction of the region and one of the main pillars of financing the Podhale Aero Club’s activities. Aviation festivals are also organized every year, attracting many local residents and tourists.
This region of Poland is an ideal (that is, extremely challenging) terrain for precision flying competitions. Forested mountains and very dense development pose a great challenge even for world champions. The Polish Aviation Navigation Championships for Seniors and Juniors, international model aircraft competitions in 1979, and the World Rocket Modelling Championships in 1983 have also been held there. Since 2003, competitions as part of the Polish Aviation Navigation Cup have been held at the Łososina airfield.
