Spilve Airport had its glory past in the days: She opened in 1916 and are now abandoned most places. I passed by in 2025 and made some shuts showing this aviation history nearly forgotten.
You may call it a photo documentation of industrial decay and abandonment, with nature gradually reclaiming what were once functional structures. The Spilva area does have a history of heavy industrial use, and this photo captures that post-industrial landscape—a common sight at former airport, factory, or military sites that have been left to deteriorate over decades.
Midsummer at Spilve Airport, Plava, Riga — a compact airfield where lingering sunlight meets worn infrastructure. Through the frames we follow the slow choreography of arrivals and departures: an empty runway at dawn, the control tower watching over quiet operations, veteran aircraft parked like old storytellers, travellers paused between places, a honeyed sunset spilling across tarmac, the hum of the terminal, a fringe of grass softening the fence line, and close-up details that bear the patina of time. These images record resilience: small joys, patient work, and the daily insistence on movement despite scarcity.
Wiki have some very good explanation about the history and construction here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spilve_Airport
Location Spilve Airfield
You will find Spilve Airport Northwest of Riga, between the current international Airport. You able to visit it using local public transportation like buses. There are no shops nor cafes in the area, so bring your own amenities with on beforehand. A petrol station on the nearby main road might be open for coffee ☕
Address:
Daugavgrīvas iela 140,
Kurzemes rajons,
Rīga,
LV-1007,
Latvia
You will find the location here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=56.98492&mlon=24.07345#map=13/56.98492/24.07345
Current use of Spilve Airport
Even the nature slowly takes over the former beautiful man made airfield and transform it to something else beautiful, there are still activities there:
• The local sport plane club house Aerospool, Cessna and Ultra Light: https://mintaviationclub.com/
• A traffic School use a corner of the huge field to trains futures drivers of Latvia motor cyclist (Speaking very good English).
• A mechanic and auto repair aka garage.
• A pallet Company : https://www.wegopack.com/
• Properly some more I didn’t find as passed by.
• If you are birdwatcher you might find this area very interesting, particular up the North side. Nearly unspoiled nature and huge meadows gives good bases for insects and birds 🦅
• Drone flying activities
References: Sitevisit and homepage of Splve Aerodrome: https://www.spilve.org
All photos by me 🙂
