Rabah Bitat Airport Explained

Annaba Rabah Bitat Airport
Iata:AAE
Icao:DABB
Type:Public
Operator:EGSA-Constantine
City-Served:Annaba, Algeria
Elevation-F:16
Elevation-M:5
Metric-Elev:y
Coordinates:36.8292°N 7.8139°W
Pushpin Map:Algeria
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of airport in Algeria
Pushpin Label:AAE
Pushpin Label Position:right
R1-Number:01/19
R1-Length-F:9,843
R1-Length-M:3,000
R1-Surface:Asphalt
Metric-Rwy:y
R2-Number:05/23
R2-Length-M:2,290
R2-Length-F:7,513
R2-Surface:Asphalt
Stat-Year:2020[1]
Stat2-Header:Passenger volume
Stat2-Data:105,229
Footnotes:Sources: AIP[2] DAFIF,[3] [4] ACI's 2013 World Airport Traffic Report.

Annaba Rabah Bitat Airport, formerly known as Les Salines Airport, and popularly as El Mellah Airport is an international airport located 9km (06miles) south of Annaba, a city in Algeria. It is named after Rabah Bitat, a president of Algeria (1978–1979).

History

During the era of French colonization in Algeria, the airport was named Bône-les-Salines, in reference to the salt lakes in the vicinity of the site.

It was put into operation in 1939, and a decree of December 16, 1958, entrusted the operation to the Chamber of Commerce of Bône.[5]

World War II

During World War II, the airport was known as Bone Airfield, and was used by the German Luftwaffe. It was later captured by the United States Army, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in 1942–1943.

In November 1942, the Allies invaded French Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch). The British airborne operations in North Africa started on 12 November, when the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment carried out the first battalion sized parachute drop on Bone airfield. The remainder of the 1st Parachute Brigade arrived by sea the next day. Bone Airfield was the base of No. 111 Squadron RAF, a Supermarine Spitfire squadron under Squadron Leader Tony Bartley. One notable pilot to fly from Bone on occasion was Wing Commander Adrian Warburton who was an infrequent visitor after crash landing there on 15 November 1942. 81 Squadron were based at Bone from 16 November to 31 January 1942 with 'Ras' Berry DSO DFC and then Colin F Gray DSO DFC being Squadron Leaders. Alan M Peart DFC also claimed his first aerial combat victory as well as two further aircraft damaged over Bone Harbour during this time.[6]

Algerian war

After the war, the air base 213 one of the air bases of the French Air Force, was established on the site at that time. It was home to the 1/91 Gascogne Bombardment Group, a unit recreated on September 1, 1956 (and temporarily dissolved on September 17, 1962, after the Algerian War), which was equipped with Douglas B-26 Invaders.[7]

Post-war period

After Algerian independence and until 2000, Annaba airport was named El-Mellaha (meaning in Arabic "Les Salines").

Since then, the airport has been named in honor of Rabah Bitat, former head of the Algerian state.

Facilities

The old terminal had an annual capacity of 500,000 passengers. In January 2016, the new international terminal was opened. The new terminal, which on commissioning generated 300 jobs, has an expandable capacity of 700,000 passengers per year.[8]

Statistics

The evolution of air traffic at Annaba airport between 2006 and 2020 is:[9]

TrafficYear200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Total362 303372 244386 607416 435402 585421 547446 846462 003473 530489 739530 709553 349520 493515 481105 229

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Statistiques des Passagers de 2011 à 2020. egsa-constantine.dz . EGSA Constantine . 2023-01-29 . fr . PDF; 229 KB.
  2. http://www.sia-enna.dz/PDF/AIP/AD/AD2/DABB/DABB.pdf AIP
  3. Web site: Airport information for DABB . World Aero Data . usurped . https://web.archive.org/web/20190305143444/http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=DABB . 2019-03-05. Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  4. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  5. Web site: Arrêté du 16 Décembre 1958: Concession d'Exploitation de l'Aeroport de Bone-Les-Salines a la Chambre de Commerce de Bone . Order of December 16, 1958: Bône-Les-Salines Airport Operation Concession to the Bône Chamber of Commerce . fr . 2021-08-27 . Legifrance.gouv.fr.
  6. The National Archive reference TNA AIR-678-23
  7. Web site: d'Algérie. Avions de la Guerre . 22 - Douglas A/B-26 "Invader" . 2021-08-27 . Le blog de Avions de la Guerre d'Algérie . fr.
  8. Web site: Sellal inaugurates new terminal of Annaba . 9 March 2016 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160310100558/http://www.aps.dz/en/regions/11348-sellal-inaugurates-new-terminal-of-annaba . March 10, 2016.
  9. Web site: Statistiques du Trafic aérien . fr . Etablissement de Gestion de Services Aéroportuaires de Constantine . 2021-08-27.