Punta Indio Naval Air Base Base Aeronaval Punta Indio
IATA: none ICAO: SAAI
Summary
Airport type	Military
Serves	Punta Indio, Argentina
Elevation AMSL	52 ft / 16 m
Coordinates	35°20′52″S 57°17′40″W / 35.34778°S 57.29444°W / -35.34778; -57.29444 (Punta Indio Naval Air Base (Punta Indio))
Map
SAAI Location of Air Base in Argentina
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 06/24 2,121 6,959 Asphalt 07/25 1,400 4,593 Asphalt 12/30 1,195 3,921 Asphalt
Source: Landings.com[1] Google Maps[2] GCM[3]

Punta Indio Naval Air Base (Spanish: Base Aeronaval Punta Indio, ICAO: SAAI) is a military airport operated by the Argentine Naval Aviation, located in the countryside 5 kilometres (3 mi) northeast of Verónica, a town in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina.

The Punta Indio VOR-DME (Ident: PDI) and non-directional beacon (Ident: PDI) are located on the field.^[4][5]

History

Punta Indio Naval Air Base (Argentine Navy identifier: BAPI), the cradle of Argentine Naval Aviation, was established in 1928 on land that was donated by Martín Tornquist, who founded the nearby city of Verónica. The base was strategically located to control access by ship to the Río de la Plata, initially via manned balloons.

On 16 June 1955, Punta Indio was the departure base of the naval aircraft that bombarded the Casa Rosada attempting to kill president Juan Domingo Perón^[6] This action was the preface to the September uprising known as "Revolución Libertadora".

In April 1963, during the Navy uprising (part of the Azules y Colorados confrontation), rebel naval aircraft from Punta Indio attacked the loyalist 8th Tank Regiment; afterwards the air base was attacked by the loyalist Air Force and occupied by the Army.^{[citation needed]}

During the National Reorganization Process, a Clandestine Detention Centre was active at Punta Indio.^[7]

In 2008 the First Naval Air Squadron was deactivated due to lack of budget.^[8]

In 2011, the 90th anniversary of the foundating of the Naval Aviation School was celebrated.^[9]

Units

Punta Indio Naval Air Base is the location of the First Naval Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aeronaval N° 1), comprising the following units:^{[citation needed]}

• Punta Indio Naval Air Base group
• Punta Indio Naval Air Workshop (Spanish: Taller Aeronaval Punta Indio)
• First Naval Air Wing (Spanish: Escuadra Aeronaval N° 1), composed of:
  • Argentine Naval Aviation School (Spanish: Escuela de Aviación Naval)
  • First Naval Air Attack Squadron (Spanish: Primera Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Ataque), currently^[when?] on reserve
  • Naval Air Maritime Patrol Squadron (Spanish: Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Vigilancia Marítima.