Mitiga International Airport
| Mitiga International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | HLLM | ||
| IATA code | MJI | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 11 m (36 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 11 km east of Tripoli , Libya
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1995 | ||
| Runways | |||
| 03/21 | 1829 m × 45 m asphalt | ||
| 11/29 | 3376 m × 45 m asphalt | ||
The Mitiga International Airport is located about 11 km east of Tripoli , Libya . It is the second international airport in Tripoli , next to the Tripoli International Airport .
history
Italian base
The facility was built as the Italian air base Mellaha during the time when Libya was an Italian colony (' Italian Libya '). The headquarters of the 5th Air Corps was located here during the Second World War . 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 .
Wheelus Air Force Base
On May 17, 1945, the former Italian Air Force Base at Mellaha was renamed Wheelus Air Force Base in memory of U.S. Air Force soldier Lieutenant Richard Wheelus , who had recently died in a plane crash in Iran . Between May 15, 1947 and June 1948, the base was not used by the USA; from June 1, 1948, the US Air Force used the base for air transport (Military Air Transport Service). On November 16, 1950, the US Strategic Air Command ordered the relocation of B-50 , B-36 , B-47 and KC-97 bomber aircraft to Wheelus Air Force Base near Tripoli. The long-haul aircraft enabled the US Air Force to perform strategic reconnaissance missions on the Soviet southern border during the Cold War.
According to the United Nations resolution of 1949, Libya became an independent kingdom in late 1951. At the same time, a military agreement was signed with the USA on the use of Wheelus Air Base near Tripoli by the US Air Force Europe . Around 4,600 US soldiers were stationed at the air force base. The leasing of military bases to the USA and Great Britain represented an important source of money for the impoverished country. On September 9, 1954, a new military agreement was signed with the USA for the use of Wheelus Air Base, which included the stationing of around 14,000 US soldiers meant to their relatives.
On February 22, 1964, the Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser officially called for the liquidation of the foreign military bases in Libya. US President Lyndon B. Johnson saw Nasser's ongoing political pressure on friendly Arab states such as Jordan and Libya as a threat. After Nasser condemned the Libyan base policy, riots broke out in the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. On March 16, 1964, the Libyan parliament decided unanimously to terminate the base agreements, the one with the USA until 1971 and the one with Great Britain until 1973. The airport was used by the United States Air Force until June 1970.
Libyan military airfield
Subsequently, the airport served as Okba Ben Nafi Air Base for the Libyan Air Force as a base .
During the late Cold War were combat aircraft such as the MiG-25 or bombers of type Tu-22 Tupolev , as well as personnel of the Soviet Air Force stationed.
The Okba Ben Nafi Air Base was a major target in the American retaliatory strike Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986 .
International civil airport
In 1995 the airport was opened as Mitiga International Airport for civil air traffic.
In the course of the state collapse of Libya, Mitiga became a transshipment point for refugees who came from Bangladesh to Europe and for the repatriation of refugees to their sub-Saharan home countries.
aims
In addition to national destinations such as Benghazi and Misrata, there are international connections to Tunis , Istanbul and Aleppo, among others .
Incidents
- On January 15, 2018, an Airbus A319 operated by Libyan Afriqiyah Airways ( aircraft registration number 5A-ONC ) was damaged by artillery shells in the upper fuselage area during combat operations at Mitiga International Airport near Tripoli, resulting in a total write-off. People were not harmed.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Airport data on World Aero Data ( English, as of 2006 )
- ↑ Middle East Countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia . 1955. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
- ↑ Bangladesh is now the single biggest country of origin for refugees on boats as a new route to Europe emerges
- ↑ https://www.iom.int/search/mitiga
- ↑ Incident report A319 5A-ONC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 31, 2020.