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Skip to content The official name of Željava's underground military airbase is Objekt Klek 505. Visitors know it by many names — Željava Airbase, the Military Airport near Bihać, the Airport near Plitvice, or simply Željava. Whatever you call it, the story is the same: built in total secrecy during the Cold War, Objekt Klek 505 was the single most expensive investment in the history of the former Yugoslavia. The complex breaks down into three distinct sections: the base, the runways and the tunnels.
Right at the entrance from the direction of the village of Željava stands an impressive cluster of buildings that made up the base — the barracks. This part of the complex was designed and built to serve as support and logistics for the more critical part of the airbase: the tunnels.
Offices, dormitories, a kitchen, mechanical workshops, garages, training grounds — all of it sat right at the entrance to the airbase, roughly 3 kilometres from the tunnels themselves. Personnel stationed here didn't necessarily have access to the most sensitive part of the operation. Everything ran on strict hierarchy and maximum secrecy, all in the name of keeping Željava's existence off the map.
Today the buildings are open to explore — overgrown, broken down, and all the more atmospheric for it.
The tunnel system is vast and complex, stretching 3.5 kilometres deep into Mount Plješevica. All sections are now open and can be explored on foot. The tunnels are interconnected in the shape of the letter M, with four aircraft entrances and exits — all located on Croatian territory. Tunnel no. 2 is easy to spot: its entrance is encased in concrete shaped like an aircraft and painted in camouflage colours. The other three tunnels (1, 3 and 4) have bare entrances.
Technical installations: The tunnels were fitted with highly complex systems — air and water purification, sewage, electricity and radiation shielding. Every single metre was covered by surveillance cameras. Today you can see all of this up close, with a guide on hand to explain exactly how the whole system worked.
Offices, dormitories, command centre: Alongside the aircraft hangars, the tunnel network contains a maze of smaller corridors and rooms, each with its own purpose: a command centre, kitchen, changing rooms, classrooms, ventilation room, fuel tanks, generator room, weapons storage, photo laboratory and more.
The control tower sits on elevated ground between tunnels no. 2 and no. 3 — perfectly positioned to give a visual overview of the runways and the junctions leading into the tunnels.
From the outside, it was accessed via a staircase, now buried under leaves and earth. From inside the tunnels, a lift at the junction of tunnels 2 and 3 led directly up to the control room. You'll know which tunnel leads to it — air always flows through it.
The runways fan out from the exits of all four tunnels, forming a network of take-off and landing strips. Five runways in total were built, ranging from 2.5 to 2.8 kilometres in length, all interconnected. Anti-aircraft defences were built along the outer sections — the airbase was designed to protect itself from the ground as much as from the air. The runways are in remarkably good condition, apart from a handful of spots deliberately blown up during the JNA's withdrawal in 1992.
Three of the runways lie in Croatia; two cross into Bosnia and Herzegovina. The international border runs right along the edge of the tarmac, marked by visible boundary posts.
The most photographed thing at Željava isn't a tunnel or a runway — it's a plane. The Douglas C-47 sits right at the entrance to the base, impossible to miss. Battered and weathered, its fuselage is still standing. Every single visitor stops here, drawn to this aircraft that originally carried paratroopers during the Second World War. Placed as a landmark when the base was opened, it now serves as your first sign that you've arrived at the right place. It's also a Geocaching waypoint — have you played?
The most photographed thing at Željava isn't a tunnel or a runway — it's a plane. The Douglas C-47 sits right at the entrance to the base, impossible to miss. Battered and weathered, its fuselage is still standing. Every single visitor stops here, drawn to this aircraft that originally carried paratroopers during the Second World War. Placed as a landmark when the base was opened, it now serves as your first sign that you've arrived at the right place. It's also a Geocaching waypoint — have you played?
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