Šiauliai International Airport

Šiauliai International Airport (also known as Zokniai Airport, Zoknių oro uostas) is located 7 km southeast of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. It covers an area of 471 ha.

History
The airport was one of the largest military airports in the former Soviet Union. In 1955 it was only one of six Soviet bases capable of handling the new Myasishchev M-4 bomber. The Tupolev Tu-126 was based here between the 1960s and 1970s. It was home to the 53 APIB (53rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying MiG-23 aircraft with the ML, MLD, and UB variants and the MiG-27. It was also home to the 18th Guards Military Transport Aviation Division, and the 196 VTAP (196th Military Transport Aviation Regiment) flying Il-76 aircraft. It was a base of the 117 OAP (117th Independent Aviation Regiment) flying An-12PPS aircraft. The last Soviet troops based here left in 1993. In 2011, Lithuania's parliamentary foreign affairs committee voted in favor of renaming the airport after U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Baltic air policing
Šiauliai is now home to the NATO Baltic Air Policing forward deployment, providing airspace security for the three new Baltic members of NATO.