The northern section has been used as a military airport since its inception in 1913 as an Imperial German airbase until 23 December 2009.

The prospect of relocating the airport elsewhere is often raised as a result of the flight path to the runway being located directly over the city.

One notable incident involving confusion between Ławica and Krzesiny happened on 15 August 2006, when a Sky Airlines aircraft - a Boeing 737-800 running flight number SKY335 - mistook the runway at Krzesiny for the one being used in Ławica, landing at the military base by accident.

According to Krzysztof Krawcewicz, a pilot and the editor-in-chief of the Polish monthly Przegląd Lotniczy/Aviation Revue, this was at least the seventh mistaken aircraft that landed at the Poznań–Krzesiny airfield in 2006 alone.

He faults, among others, the "scandalous procedures which are in use by the air traffic control at Poznań–Ławica" and the lack of radar use in controlling aircraft landing, which, although a radar system is present at Ławica, has been shut off, most likely due to the nearby military base.