Tobruk Airport
| Tobruk Airport
مطار طبرق |
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | HLGN | ||
| IATA code | TOB | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 157 m (515 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 27 km south of Tobruk , Libya
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| Runways | |||
| 02/20 | 3016 m × 45 m asphalt | ||
| 09/27 | 3000 m × 45 m unclear | ||
| 15/33 | 3007 m × 45 m unpaved | ||
The Tobruk Airport ( Arabic مطار طبرق, English Tobruk Airport or Gamal Abdel Nasser Airport ) is a civil and military airport of Tobruk in Libya . He bears the name of the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser († 1970).
description
The airport was built as an air force base and is located about 27 kilometers by road south of the city in the hinterland near the al-Adam settlement. The straight line distance to the Mediterranean coast is 25 km, to the Egyptian border about 105 km. It has 3 triangular runways, various aircraft shelters for military use and a large operating area with numerous buildings. According to the satellite image, only the 02/20 runway is in use.
Transport links
The airfield is located on a dead end road in the southern hinterland of Tobruk. The 400 km long Tobruk – Ajdabiya desert road to the southwest begins near the airport .
history
Italian base
The facility was built as an Italian air force base in El-Adem during the colonial era. Units of the 5th Air Corps were located here in World War II . As part of the Allied theater of war in the Mediterranean region , the colony of Italian Libya was lost in the Axis Powers' campaign in Africa from 1943 onwards .
British Air Force Base
After the British conquered the area, the airfield was expanded and became an important base for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) for a quarter of a century . The plane with the new Queen Elizabeth II made a stopover here after the death of her father on the journey home from her visit to Africa to England.
On July 29, 1953, a friendship and assistance treaty was signed between the young Kingdom of Libya and Great Britain. 3,000 British soldiers were stationed at the British base Royal Air Force Station El Adam , RAF El Adam for short , near Tobruk. In addition, the RAF had rights of disposal over Idris International Airport in Tripoli. During the Suez Crisis in 1956, airfields in Egypt were bombed by British forces. British fighter planes also used Libyan air bases for their operations on the Suez.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the station was an important stopover for flights to the Middle and Far East and also served regularly as a base for maneuvers by transport aircraft.
On February 22, 1964, Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser officially called for the liquidation of the foreign military bases in Libya and challenged US President Lyndon B. Johnson . After unrest in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, the Libyan parliament then unanimously resolved on March 16, 1964 to terminate the base agreements, so that the agreements with the USA in 1971 and with Great Britain in 1973 would have expired, although Muammar al-Gaddafi's putsch came in 1969 .
Egyptian attacks
In the Libyan-Egyptian border war , the Egyptian air force attacked the Libyan air base on July 22, 1977 with fighter planes of the Sukhoi Su-20 and MiG-21 type . According to Egypt, seven Libyan aircraft were destroyed on the ground. An Egyptian combat aircraft type MiG-21 was in the attack by a Libyan Fliegerfaust type Grail 7 SA- shot.
predecessor
The historical civilian landing place of Tobruk was located 12 km to the west of Tobruk, between the Mediterranean coast and the road to Darna at 32 ° 5 '46' N , 23 ° 50 '15 " O . According to the satellite image, the runway and all buildings have been demolished.
Airlines and Destinations
The airport is served by some airlines:
- Air One Nine to Tripoli
- Libyan Airlines to Benghazi and Tripoli
Incidents
- On February 26, 1958, a Vickers Viking 1B of Eagle Aviation ( aircraft registration G-AGRT ) parked at the RAF El Adem base was destroyed by fire.
See also
Web links
- Airport data in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Pilot information for Tobruk in ourairports.com, (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Accident report Viking 1 G-AGRT , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 8, 2017.