NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days

We have been bringing information about participants and display in recent articles and you were finding out about what you could look for at NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days. We hope you will be attracted by the programme and you will spend only pleasurable moments at the airport.  We wish that everything went smoothly, that you went home full of unforgettable experience and that you would like to return in the following years. Please pay attention to the following text and recommendations, especially if you are first time visitors.

There are two most visited event in the Czech Republic in two last years – NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days and the Moto GP in Brno, both visited by a comparable number of around 200,000 visitors. Both events naturally have many differences; however one is extremely important in comparison – while the racing track in Brno has been built from the beginning as a venue for massive public events, the Mošnov airfield has been not. In other words, we have to work with and use what we have available and we don’t have much pull to change it. These words apply mostly to the access communications and the layout of the venue in general. On the other hand, the Mošnov airfield is the only airport in the Czech Republic, where it is possible to organize the event if we consider the length of the tarmac, the capacity of aircraft stands for static display, enough space for dynamic displays and also the possibility to organize the event without disrupting the regular air traffic, which is not to be taken for granted – which can be confirmed for example in Brno.

Safety

• The safety of our visitors is an absolute priority for us. Concerns about safety are the reason why flying displays (besides arrivals and departures) cannot to be conducted in the axis of the tarmac, which is typical for other events. We would to change it too, however as long as the location of the central parking area (and there is no alternative) stays in the same spot, we cannot change it. We know that the direction of displays (including the partial orientation against sun) is not ideal; however it is the only one possible due to safety. Please, try to understand.
• In accordance with necessity to ensure the safety of visitors, we have issues a ban of entry into areas under the display line, which is a dangerous area and we received several complaints about concentration of people in the area from display crews in the past years. Please heed the entry restriction under the display line (see orientation plan of access roads).

 

• We would also like to ask our visitors – and especially “newbies”, to bear in mind this fact in moments when they don’t think the location of the venue is ideal – it is just not possible to place the venue in other area of the airport. Please understand that we are fully aware of the fact and all the aspects connected with it like the necessary “walk around the fence” from the central parking area to the venue. The reason for it is that due to safety concerns it really is not possible to let tens of thousands of people directly to the landing zone, which is used not only by the display aircrafts, but also by regular connections that service the Leoš Janáček Ostrava Airport. It is therefore necessary to walk around the so called foot of the tarmac in safe distance to ensure the safety of the visitors and also of the landing aircrafts and it is not possible to cross by taking the shortest route possible.
• Visitors like the dynamic display to be the as dynamic, effective and realistic as possible. They are therefore connected with loud noise effects, coming either from jet engines or pyrotechnics, so we advice to take protective gear for your ears and weigh carefully your decision to take small children with you.

Transport

• Plan your arrival and departure properly. Every year, all the visitors wish to see the most interesting programme possible and they wish to keep the free entry, which we both try to keep. On the other hand these circumstances result in high interest in visiting the event. No matter if you use the train, bus, car or bicycle, it is necessary to count with delays, which is unavoidable. If you think that it is possible to start the journey on Saturday at 9 and then to be at 10 at the venue without standing in a traffic jam or without waiting for a place in a bus or place for your bike in bicycle storage zone, that is not how it is going to be. Find out more in transport section.
• We are opening the central parking zone at 6.30 already, which is half hour earlier than last year. The gates to the venue open at 8.30. On Saturday the gates are open till 18.00 and on Sunday till 17.00. It is not possible to move these figures, because on Saturday night it is necessary to prepare everything for the next day and on Sunday the clean-up of the venue already starts – and it is not possible to conduct these works later, because after the sundown the venue is not artificially lighted.

• If you use the bus connection between Studénka – Albrechtičky – Studénka, please bear in mind that the last bus from Albrechtičky leaves on Saturday at 18.00 and on Sunday at 17.00. The last connections to Ostrava, ÚAN and Hotelový dům Hlubina leave from Petřvaldík on Saturday at 17.55 and on Sunday at 16.55.
• Please bear in mind that while the entry to the event is FREE, a spot central parking zone costs 150 CZK for a car a day. Please prepare the amount in advance to speed up the whole process at entry to the zone and therefore to avoid traffic problems. Our call for patience and respectful behaviour applies also to visitors using other means of transport.
• If you travel to the event on your bicycle, please use the two bicycle-locker zones, which are operated by Ostrava Municipal Police. You can safely lock you bicycle there, so you don’t have to walk with the bike around the area and possible harm other visitors or look for other place to secure your bike.
• Entry gate no. 3, which is opened only in good weather, is going to be open. Please bear in mind that this gate is located near a field with a lot of mud.
• Bear in mind that dogs and other animals are restricted from the airport – with exception for assistant or service dogs.

In the area

• There are three information centres in the venue, which provide information and sell E-15 programme special with practical maps and more for 10 CZK. Then they offer a limited edition of tourist badges, several variants of T-Shirts and then keychains, patches, caps and other. You can also pre-order a DVD from the event for 499 CZK, which is going to be prepared by the PlanesTV company. Then there is a mobile cash mashine in the area, located in sector 4.
• We have prepared a division of the venue into sectors. Each sector is clearly marked in the map of the area. At the venue itself they are marked with 4 metres high “totems”, which can serve as visible orientation points. See plan of the venue

• In case you plan to visit the event with children, please equip them with a card stating their name, your names and most importantly your cell phone number, so that in case you lose track of your child, we can quickly contact you. Please keep your children under supervision and also bear in mind the loud noise effects that accompany most of the displays.
• As in previous years, you can also tune the Radio Čas broadcast directly from the event at 88,6 FM, which brings commentary to the dynamic displays.
• We have created an mobile version of our website this year. It is going to be launched automatically in your cell phone if you enter natodays.cz in the address bar. Our partners have also created interesting and practical mobile apps.

 

After the event we will welcome any of your remarks or experience that can help us to make the event better in the following years,
We are looking forward to your visit and we wish you pleasant moments at NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days,

Association Jagello 2000

See you at
13^th NATO Days in Ostrava & 4^th Czech Air Force Days!

The General Partner of NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days is the company

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