Šiauliai Air Base
airport southeast of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania
Šiauliai Air Base is a major military facility of the Lithuanian Air Force and one of the air bases of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission. Šiauliai International Airport (IATA: SQQ, ICAO: EYSA) operates within the base as a civilian airport. The joint-use airport is also known by its historic name of Zokniai aerodrome (Lithuanian: Zoknių aerodromas) and is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) southeast of the city of Šiauliai in northern Lithuania.
History
Zokniai area was first used as an aerial warfare facility in 1916–1917, when the German forces built hangars for their Zeppelin airships.
The Lithuanian Air Force began expanding during the Interwar period, as Lithuania was acquiring foreign aircraft as well as domestically produced ANBO-series aircraft, making the Kaunas aerodrome insufficient.
In 1931, Zokniai aerodrome was built as a second airbase for the Lithuanian Air Force. It was a base of the 3rd, 4th and 5th squadrons. At that time, it was able to host 35 aircraft, including Ansaldo A.120, Letov Š-20, Gloster Gladiator, de Havilland Dragon Rapide and the domestically produced ANBO 41. For a brief time, the aerodrome hosted Lituanica II.
The concrete runways were first built during the German occupation in 1943. Following the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the aerodrome was taken over by the Soviet forces.
“Šiauliai Air Base” enters the record as airport southeast of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Šiauliai, Base and airport can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Šiauliai Air Base” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Šiauliai, Base and airport provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1433338. Authority coordinates are 55.894, 23.395. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1916, 1917, 1931 and 1943.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Šiauliai Air Base”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Šiauliai Air Base primary sources, Šiauliai Air Base archive and Šiauliai research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Šiauliai Air Base” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.