Biskra Airport Explained
| Mohamed Khider Airport |
| Iata: | BSK |
| Icao: | DAUB |
| Pushpin Map: | Algeria |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 200 |
| Pushpin Mark: | Airplane_silhouette.svg |
| Pushpin Label: | BSK |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Algeria |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | EGSA Constantine |
| City-Served: | Biskra |
| Location: | Oumache, Algeria |
| Metric-Elev: | y |
| Elevation-M: | 88 |
| Coordinates: | 34.8017°N 5.7417°W |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 13/31 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2,900 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2020[1] |
| Stat1-Header: | Passenger volume |
| Stat1-Data: | 29,154 |
| Footnotes: | Source: Algerian AIP[2] Landings.com,[3] ACI's 2013 World Airport Traffic Report |
Mohamed Khider Airport[4] or Biskra Ouakda Airport is an airport in Algeria, located approximately 12 km north-northeast of Oumache; about 200 km south-southwest of Constantine.
History
During World War II, the airport was known as "Biskra Airfield". It was a major United States Twelfth Air Force base of operations during the North African campaign against the German Afrika Korps. Known combat units assigned to the airfield were: 97th Bombardment Group B-17 Flying Fortress[5] (14 December 1942 – 8 February 1943); 301st Bombardment Group B-17 Flying Fortress (16 December 1942 – 17 January 1943); 1st Fighter Group P-38 Lightning (24 December 1942 – 8 February 1943); HQ, 5th Bombardment Wing (January–March 1943).[6]
See also
External links
- Web site: DAUB @ aerobaticsweb.org. Landings.com. 1 August 2013. 24 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111824/http://aerobaticsweb.org/cgi-bin/search_apt?DAUB. dead.
Notes and References
- Web site: Statistiques des Passagers de 2011 à 2020. egsa-constantine.dz . EGSA Constantine . 2023-01-29 . fr . PDF; 229 KB.
- Algerian AIP and Chart
- Web site: DAUB @ aerobaticsweb.org. Landings.com. 1 August 2013. 24 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111824/http://aerobaticsweb.org/cgi-bin/search_apt?DAUB. dead.
- Web site: Airline and Airport Code Search. IATA. 11 May 2016.
- The following excerpt is found on page 57, column 1, paragraphs 2 and 3 in the book titled:
The Hour Has Come ‑ The 97th Bomb Group in World War II, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas, Texas, Library of Congress Number 93-060460, Published 1993, which states:
The rains that continued into December made it imperative for the Allied Command to find suitable fields where airplanes would be able to fly in all sorts of weather and to make provisions for protection against enemy air attacks and for freighting supplies to the groups with regularity. Priority on new fields went to the 97th to receive the first suitable base owing to its experience and the fact that the entire group was now in Africa and ready for action. The initial step was taking the mess section of the 414th Squadron to Biskra and within two days selected ground crews were being flown in. The remainder were at Oran awaiting rail transportation. The same day that the selected personnel were moving into the desert the aircrews began their move. Two squadrons moved to Blida (342nd and 414th) and the others to Maison Blanche (340th and 341st). The following day 14 December they bombed the docks at Tunis without loss and returned to what will be their new base at Biskra, 200 airplane miles southeast of Algiers beyond the Atlas Mountains, in the Sahara Desert.
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .
