Mohamed Khider Airport

مطار بسكرة - محمد خيضر (Arabic)
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorEGSA Constantine
ServesBiskra
LocationOumache, Algeria
Elevation AMSL88 m / 289 ft
Coordinates34°48′06″N 05°44′30″E / 34.80167°N 5.74167°E / 34.80167; 5.74167
Map
BSK is located in Algeria
BSK
BSK
Location of airport in Algeria
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 2,900 9,514 Asphalt
Statistics (2020[1])
Passenger volume29,154
Source: Algerian AIP[2] Landings.com,[3] ACI's 2013 World Airport Traffic Report

Mohamed Khider Airport[4] or Biskra Ouakda Airport (IATA: BSK, ICAO: DAUB) 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][7]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Algérie Algiers, Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris–Orly[8]
Tassili Airlines Algiers

See also

References

  1. ^ "Statistiques des Passagers de 2011 à 2020" (PDF; 229 KB). egsa-constantine.dz (in French). EGSA Constantine. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  2. ^ Algerian AIP and Chart
  3. ^ "DAUB @ aerobaticsweb.org". Landings.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Airline and Airport Code Search". IATA. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
  7. ^ Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  8. ^ Air Algerie Archived 21 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, official website

External links


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Airports in Algeria
Lists of airports
USAAF Twelfth Air Force in World War II
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