Calais-Dunkerque Airport

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Aéroport de Calais-Dunkerque
Calais-Dunkerque Airport (Pas-de-Calais)
Red pog.svg
Characteristics
ICAO code LFAC
IATA code CQF
Coordinates

50 ° 57 '39 "  N , 1 ° 57' 5"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 57 '39 "  N , 1 ° 57' 5"  E
Height above MSL 4 m (13  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 7 km northeast of Calais
Street 1 km to the D 940
2 km to theA16
Basic data
opening September 12, 1913
operator Communauté d'agglomération du Calaisis
surface 150 ha
Start-and runway
06/24 1535 m × 45 m asphalt

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The Aéroport de Calais-Dunkerque is an airport in France . The airport is located in the region of Hauts-de-France in the department of Pas-de-Calais in the field of community Marck about seven kilometers north-east of Calais and 30 kilometers west-southwest of Dunkerque / Dunkirk . The airport is mainly used for general aviation .

history

Until 1939

Aviation in the Calais area began in 1902 on a meadow near Marck, which the first aviators used as a training ground for the intended crossing of the English Channel , which Louis Blériot finally managed on July 25, 1909.

The first airfield of Calais, the Aérodrome du Beau-Marais was officially opened on September 12, 1913. During the following World War I , the airfield served the Air Forces of Belgium and the United Kingdom.

In 1925 the idea arose to establish a commercial airport here. The local Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chambre de Commerce de Calais, took over the less successful flight operations.

A new attempt was made in 1937 when the new Calais-Marck airfield was built at its current location.

Second World War

During the Second World War , the airfield was used by the Luftwaffe during the German occupation . The area was expanded by the Germans, including a concrete runway that still exists today, but is no longer used. During the Battle of Britain the first two groups of Lehrgeschwader 2 , both with Bf 109E , were stationed here. The I. (Jagd-) Gruppe (I. (Jagd) / LG2) lay here from the end of August to the beginning of November 1940 and the II. (Battle) Group (II. (Battle) / LG2) from the beginning of September 1940 to the end March 1941. As part of the Cerberus company , the majority of Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) equipped with Bf 109E / F flew here in mid-February 1942 under the command of Major Walter Oesau to escort the heavy units of the Kriegsmarine . In addition to his staff, the I. (I./JG 2) and II. Groups (II./JG 2) of the squadron were relocated to Calais at short notice.

During the Second World War, a field airfield existed 15 km southwest of the airfield, east of the municipality of Caffier . The Caffiers field airfield was laid out in mid-July 1940 for Jagdgeschwader 26 . Its III. Gruppe (III./JG 26), equipped with the Bf 109E, lay here from July 21 to November 10, 1940 and flew their missions during the Battle of Britain during the first few weeks under the command of Major Adolf Galland . Sporadic continued use by the Luftwaffe took place until 1942.

Ten kilometers northeast of today's airport there was another field airfield near Oye-Plage , where there is now a nature reserve, which was used by the III during the Battle of Britain from late August to mid-1940. Group of JG 2 (III./JG 2) was used.

Since 1945

After the end of the war, it took until July 4th 1954 for the Aéroport de Calais-Marck to reopen with two grass runways. In the following years, commercial aviation prospered at the Marck location. Various airlines connected Calais with destinations in England :

The airport recorded its busiest year in 1961, when it was fourth in the traffic statistics of all French airports. In the following years the regular service shrank and came to a standstill at the end of the 1960s; between 1969 and 1995 the airfield did not even have its own flight control zone.

Since then, the airfield has served general aviation such as business travel, aviation and flight training.

Dunkerque-Mardyck Airfield

Dunkerque / Duinkerke used to have its own airfield, the Aérodrome de Dunkerque-Mardyck in the west. Today there are port and refinery facilities here.

The airfield was built in 1936 on an area of ​​72 hectares and was used by the Club Aéronautique de Dunkerque.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, it was taken over by the French Air Force , which expanded it in May 1940. The main task force located here, with a short interruption at the beginning of May from mid-January to the end of May 1940, was a hunting group (French: the Group de chasse ), the GC I / 4 equipped with Hawk 75 . In April / May 1940 the Ms.406 of GC II / 6 were also lying here . With an observation unit, the GAO 501, there was another unit stationed here from mid-November 1939, which was here for training purposes.

The last Allied squadron stationed here was the 1st Squadron of the British Royal Air Force , whose hurricane secured the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force in the first half of June .

After the armistice in the west, the German air force used the airfield until 1941, which built a 600 m long concrete runway and a paved runway here.

During the Battle of Britain , Mardyck was a base for Bf 109E fighters. Between the end of August and the end of September 1940 staff and II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 2 (S. and II./JG 2) were located here, and Group I (I./JG 2) was added in the first two weeks of this period. In October the Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51) took over the Mardyck location. The second group (II./JG 51) was initially there until December, and the staff was also held at the turn of the month between November and December. Later, from the beginning of February to the turn of the month of May / June 1941, the staff was again stationed here. Group II (II./JG 51) was added from mid-February 1941. It was already equipped with the Bf 109F and left the field a week after the staff headed east.

During the Battle of Britain there was an Air Force field airfield a few kilometers southwest of the Mardyck airfield near Peuplingues . The II. Group of JG 52 (II./JG 52) was stationed here first two weeks in August and later again from the end of September to the beginning of November 1940 and the III. Group of JG 51 (III./JG 51).

Another field airfield, Coquelles, lay between Mardyck and Peuplingues .

A little further south-west, north-west of the municipality of Pihen-lès-Guînes and east of Saint-Inglevert , there was another field airfield in 1940, which was initially operated between mid-June and mid-July 1940 by the I. Group of Lehrgeschwader 2 (I. (Jagd) / LG2 ) was used. In their place came the I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 51 (I./JG 51), which remained stationed here until the second half of November 1940. The squadron staff of JG 51 was stationed here from the end of August, also until the end of November 1940, and between the end of September and the beginning of November also the II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 27 (II./JG 27). In November 1940 there was also 5th group of reconnaissance group 32 (5th (H) / 32) with some Hs 126 .

After the war, the Calais-Mardyck airfield was repaired and initially used for civilian purposes again, only to be closed in 1967.

literature

  • Maurice J Wickstead: Airlines of the British Isles since 1919 . Staplefield, W Sussex, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2014, ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 172.
  2. ↑ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 23.
  3. ↑ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 170.
  4. ^ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 376.
  5. ↑ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 34.
  6. ^ Airlines of the British Isles, p. 98.