Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport ( ps, د کندهار نړيوال هوايي ډګر) and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield, KAF) , is located about south-east of the city

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. It serves as the nation's second main

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

and as one of the largest main operating bases, capable of housing up to 250 aircraft of different sizes. The current head of the airport is Maulvi Fathullah Mansour. The airport was designed and built by the United States in the early 1960s. It was occupied by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

s during the 1980s

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

. Following their withdrawal the airport remained in control of Najibullah's

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

until he stepped down in 1992. Thereafter, local warlords and the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

took control of the airport until the American invasion in late 2001. It was also the site of Airstan incident in 1995, as well as the Indian Airlines Flight 814 incident in 1999. Since 2007, the airport has been repaired and expanded. Its runway can support all types of aircraft, including a

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of tw ...

or an

Antonov An-225 Mriya The Antonov An-225 Mriya ( uk, Антонов Ан-225 Мрія, lit=dream' or 'inspiration; NATO reporting name: Cossack) was a strategic airlift cargo aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was o ...

. The airport can be used for both military and civilian flights. The military section of the airport was maintained by the

Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...

. The 2nd Wing of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) had a separate base within the airport ground. The

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ps, د افغانستان ملي پولیس; prs, پلیس ملی افغانستان), is the national police force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across ...

had provided security inside and outside the civilian terminal of the airport. The airport is now maintained by the Taliban.

History

Construction (1956–1962)

Kandahar International Airport was originally built in the early 1960s by the United States for a cost of about 15 million U.S. dollars. The airfield itself was completed in 1962 by an American company known as Morrison–Knudsen, which was contracted by the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

(USAID). Bearing a great resemblance to typical U.S. architecture of the time, its original purpose was a safe and modern refueling stop for long-range piston engined aircraft traveling between

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. However, with the advent of

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet ...

, such stops were no longer necessary, and the airport saw little use. Some speculate that since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

. While the Americans were busy building the Kandahar Airport, the Soviets were busy in the north, building the

Kabul Airport , nativename-r = , image = Flightline at Kabul International Airport.jpeg , caption = The flightline at Kabul International Airport in January 2012 , IATA = KBL , ICAO = OAKB , ...

Soviet invasion

During the

Soviet occupation of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the airfield was used intensively by the

Soviet Air Forces The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

, both as logistical facility for flying in troops and supplies and as a base for launching airstrikes against local

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...

groups. Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense. However, Kandahar airport was left relatively untouched and its main building was largely intact at the end of the war. The airstrip did suffer extensive damage that was subsequently repaired by the United Nations in the mid-1990s to support humanitarian flights.

Taliban era

The airport was mostly used at this time for military and humanitarian purposes, hosting regular flights of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

and the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

to and from Kabul,

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

, and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Ariana Afghan Airlines Ariana Afghan Airlines Co. Ltd. ( ps, د آريانا افغان هوايي شرکت; prs, هواپیمایی آریانا), also known simply as Ariana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Afghanistan. Founded in 1955, Ariana is the olde ...

(the national carrier of Afghanistan) also flew infrequent flights out of Kandahar to Pakistan and a few locations in Afghanistan such as Herat, Kabul, and Jalalabad. The airport came into the public eye during the tense drama that was played out when Pakistani

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s belonging to

Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( ur, ; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamic jihad group operating primarily in Kashmir.Indian Airlines Flight 814 on the airfield in December 1999, ordered the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

to ensure the release and safe-passage of three alleged Pakistani terrorists in return for letting the occupants of the passenger plane leave without harm. Although the exact nature of the deal that was struck between the Government of India and the hijacking group is not known at this point, it did secure the release of the three prisoners being held in a prison in India.

21st century

During

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 a ...

in late 2001, Kandahar Airport was one of the first coalition bases established in Afghanistan. It was secured by the Light Armored Reconnaissance element of the

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

15th MEU and elements of the 26th MEU in mid-December 2001, just a few weeks after the first coalition footprint was established by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

at Camp Rhino in the desert to the southwest. The airport was captured by an air insertion coinciding with a rapid overland push from troops based at Camp Rhino. Major battles between the

and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons – including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets – scattered around the terminal. Australian and Canadian special forces were amongst the first coalition troops to relocate to Kandahar Airport, and by Christmas Day the US-led coalition had established a footprint of at least 1,000 troops. A perimeter was quickly secured around the terminal building and airstrip, and initially all troops worked and lived in and around the main terminal building itself. The first spartan ablutions were established in the middle of a large rose garden out front, but shower facilities were not established for several weeks. The accommodation area began to enlarge down along the airfield to where the current military base is located, and by April the coalition presence had expanded to several thousand personnel. The

159th Combat Aviation Brigade The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) formerly supported the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. While active, 159th CAB made the 101st Airborne Division the only US Army Division with two organic ...

became the main U.S. Army Aviation unit at the airport while the

451st Air Expeditionary Wing 451st may refer to: * 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit, currently in Afghanistan * 451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) is a subordinate command of 79th Sustainment Support Command ...

became the main USAF unit. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

also had based a squadron of Harrier GR7A aircraft at Kandahar Airfield to provide

close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...

to coalition ground forces replacing USMC AV-8B's. After June 2009 under

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Ass ...

they were replaced by a squadron of

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inte ...

GR4 aircraft, carrying out close air support and recce missions. The Royal Air Force also has a detachment of C130 K and J model Hercules transport aircraft from 24, 30, 47 and 70 Squadrons and its attached Engineering detachment from 24/30 and 47/70 Engineering Squadrons as part of No. 904 Expeditionary Air Wing, the squadron's home was RAF Lyneham,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

until the end of 2011 when the squadron's home station was changed to

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The statio ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

. Eight

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a success ...

close air support fighters of the

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

were deployed to Kandahar Airfield to support the expanded NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in late 2006. 12 Sqn Tornado at Kandahar Airfield MOD 45150434

12 Sqn Tornado at Kandahar Airfield MOD 45150434

The Afghan government has been slow in rebuilding the facility, the vast majority of it has been reclaimed from years of neglect and damage by Soviet and Taliban soldiers. The interior gardens, pools, kitchen galley, restroom facility, and ticketing areas have been restored. With the transition of the U.S. passenger area terminal to the Afghans in 2005, the airport began to be used for civilian flights. It was used for the 2006

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

by Muslim pilgrims. With the closure of

Camp Julien Camp Julien was the main base for the Canada's role in the Afghanistan War, Canadian contingent of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan. The camp was named after Lance Corporal George Patrick Julien, a Canadian ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

in November 2005, most of the Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan were transferred to Kandahar province. Canadian Brigadier-General David Fraser took command of the multinational brigade from its headquarters at Kandahar Airfield (KAF) in March 2006. At the same time, Canada also fielded a battle group for two successive six-month rotations, and deployed a new rotation for the

Provincial Reconstruction Team A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PR ...

(PRT) at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar. Defense

The deployments in February 2006 brought Task Force Afghanistan in Kandahar to about 2,250 personnel. The mission of TFA was to improve the security situation in the southern areas, and play a key role in the transition from the U.S.-led multinational coalition to NATO leadership. This change was made in southern Afghanistan in the summer of 2006. Beginning in 2007, the airport was maintained by NATO under the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 pursua ...

(ISAF) banner, although a prominent base for the US and Canadian Forces, many other Armed Forces were based there. British Forces used Kandahar as their main staging post for the south and fLee direct into the Helmand province. Fast jets and combat helicopters were also deployed as this is the main airport in the south of the country. NATO operated a major trauma hospital at the base, treating battle casualties, including Afghan civilians and enemy forces. In July 2007, the post of Commander, Kandahar Airfield (COMKAF) was created as a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

appointment which had been held by an officer of the

OF-6 An officer of one-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-6. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, one-star officers hold the rank ...

rank. Commander, Kandahar Airfield has been held by: * July 2007 – Air Commodore A D Stevenson * February 2008 – Air Commodore R W Judson (exact date unknown) * September 2008 – Acting Air Commodore A D Fryer * July 2009 – Air Commodore M A B Brecht * May 2010 – Air Commodore G Moulds * November 2010 –

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

Jeffrey Kendall * November 2011 – Brigadier General Scott Dennis * November 2012 – Brigadier General John Dolan * November 2013 – Brigadier General Michael Fantini During late September 2007 a number of French

Dassault Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...

and F2000s relocated there from Dushanbe Airport, Tajikistan. The surge – Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI) The 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) deployed to Kandahar Airfield in February 2009 and was the first ESC deployed to Afghanistan assuming responsibility as the Joint Sustainment Command-Afghanistan (JSC-A). Prior to their arrival, Sustainment Brigades managed the logistical operations however with the impending surge in U.S. Forces, the ESC was chosen for the Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration (RSOI) mission, as well as, coordinating sustainment distribution with joint, strategic and coalition stakeholders. 2009 surge and onwards The 2009 surge in NATO operations in southern Afghanistan pushed the number of aircraft operations at the base from 1,700 to 5,000 flights a week. The numbers meant that Kandahar had become the busiest one-runway airport in the world. According to OSGEOINT (Open Source Imagery & Geospacial Intelligence), imagery analysis shows 2 deployments of unmanned aerial vehicles on the northeast section of the airfield. These two deployments were current as of 2012 and consisted of four MQ-1 Predators and four MQ-9 Reapers with the associated support equipment. As of January 2012, Kandahar Airfield has a population of roughly 26,000 personnel. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

began expansion work with the addition of new facilities for the

Afghan National Security Forces The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), also known as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), were the military and internal security forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Structure The Afghan National Security Fo ...

(ANSF), particularly the

(AAF). Since 2011, modified

Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air is a line of American utility aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The King Air line comprises a number of twin-turboprop models that have been divided into two families. The Model 90 and 100 series developed in the 1960s ...

s have been used by the US Army for surveillance and reconnaissance within Afghanistan. Drawdown Between 2008 and September 2014 the Belgian Air Component operated F-16s from here. Between May 2010 and September 2014 the USAF operated Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty aircraft from here for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. In May 2021, the

Resolute Support Mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 Decem ...

departed the base and handed it over to the Afghan military. On 16 August 2021, Afghan commandos evacuated

Kandahar Airport Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport ( ps, د کندهار نړيوال هوايي ډګر) and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield, KAF) , is located about south-east of the city Ka ...

after the Taliban captured Kabul, leaving it under Taliban control.

Airlines and destinations

Kam Air at Kandahar International Airport in 2012

Passenger

the following airlines serve Kandahar International Airport:

Kandahar Airfield Memorial

* Kandahar Airfield Memorial - military memorial and inuksuk for members of the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

and civilians who died in Afghanistan; it was relocated to Canada in 2011, while the inuksuk has been relocated to

Accidents and incidents

* In December 1999, one person was killed and 17 wounded during the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. The plane stayed at Kandahar for a few more days before flying out. * On 8 December 2015, at least 61 people were killed and at least 35 wounded during the 2015 Kandahar Airport bombing. * On 17 December 2016, a shooting at the airport resulted in the deaths of at least six people. * On 27 January 2020, an E-11A crashed en route to or from its temporary base at Kandahar. * On August 1, 2021, the airport was hit by three rockets that were fired by the

. Flights were halted but no one was reported injured.The airport's runway suffered damage that was quickly repaired, according to the airport's chief Massoud Pashtun.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Official website
* , August 6, 2018,

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

.
Airport record for Kandahar International Airport
at Landings.com * {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Kandahar Airports in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Installations of the United States Air Force in Afghanistan Military bases of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan Airports established in 1962 Soviet Air Force bases Military bases of Australia in Afghanistan Military installations of Afghanistan Military installations of the Soviet Union in other countries Afghanistan–United States relations