RAF Luqa
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Royal Air Force Luqa was a
Royal Air Force station The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...
located on the island of
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, now developed into the
Malta International Airport Malta International Airport ( mt, L-Ajruport Internazzjonali ta' Malta, ) is the only airport in Malta and it serves the whole of the Maltese Islands. It is located on the Malta (island), island of Malta, southwest of the Maltese capital Vallett ...
. It hosted aircraft of Air Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Particularly during the Siege of Malta from 1941 to 1943, RAF Luqa was a very important base for
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
forces fighting against
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for naval control of the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and for ground control of North
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. Air combat over and near Malta was some of the most ferocious of the war, and a series of airfields were built on the small, rocky island: at
Luqa Luqa ( mt, Ħal Luqa, , ) is a town located in the Southern Region of Malta, 4.3 km away from the capital Valletta. With a population of 5,945 as of March 2014, it is a small but densely populated settlement which is typical of Malta's old ...
,
Ta' Qali Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of Attard and Mosta in central and northern Malta respectively, which contains the national football stadium, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a crafts village, and a nation ...
, and
Hal Far HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...
, plus satellite fields at Safi,
Qrendi Qrendi ( mt, Il-Qrendi) is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2752 people as of March 2014. It is located close to Mqabba, Żurrieq and Siggiewi. Within its boundaries are two well-known Neolithic temples called ...
and on Malta's second island of
Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...
.


History


Second World War

No. 1435 (Night Fighter) Flight was first formed at Malta as a night fighter unit on 4 December 1941, by re-designating the Malta Night Fighter Unit. In July 1942, personnel from No. 603 Squadron were equipped with the Spitfire V to form the unit. After a brief period as No. 1435 (Fighter) Flight, at Luqa, due to its size it was raised to No. 1435 Squadron RAF on 2 August 1942 still at Luqa. RAFWeb writes that the original Malta "photographic reconnaissance unit was
No. 69 Squadron RAF The designation No. 69 Squadron has been used by the Royal Air Force for two quite different units. No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps was formed at Point Cook, Victoria, Australia in 1916. To avoid confusion with No. 3 Squadron, RFC, it ...
." "B" Flight, No. 69 Squadron RAF was formed into No. 683 Squadron RAF on 8 February 1943. No. 683 Squadron flew
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
Mark IVs, Mark XIs and later Mark XIXs. Just over eight months later, in November 1943, No. 683 Squadron moved to Tunisia.


Post war

After the war, Luqa remained an important RAF base, serving during the
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
of 1956, but also served as Malta's main civilian
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
.
No. 37 Squadron RAF No. 37 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron of the First and Second World Wars. History First World War No. 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Orfordness, Suffolk, on 15 April 1916 as an experimental squadron, but i ...
, which had arrived from Palestine in 1948, left Luqa for
RAF Khormaksar Royal Air Force Khormaksar or more simply RAF Khormaksar was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Aden, Yemen. Its motto was "Into the Remote Places". During the 1960s, it was the base for nine squadrons and became the RAF's busiest-ever station a ...
in Aden in July 1957. While four
Avro Shackleton The Avro Shackleton is a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a devel ...
aircraft and the squadron's identity were transferred to Aden, two aircraft were left to join No. 38 Squadron RAF, still at Luqa.
No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as par ...
began a long association, equipped with
English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...
, moving to Malta in 1965 and remained in Malta until transferring to Wyton in 1978. No. 203 Squadron RAF disbanded on 31 December 1977 at Luqa, by which time it was part of No. 18 Group within
RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air C ...
. It had been flying
BAe Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...
maritime patrol aircraft. The RAF left in 1979 following a British government decision not to renew the lease on the station from the Maltese. The payments demanded were several times the previous payments under the previous lease. A
No. 120 Squadron RAF Number 120 Squadron or No. CXX Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was established as a Royal Flying Corps unit late in World War I, disbanded a year after the end of the war, then re-established as a RAF Coastal Command squadro ...
Nimrod made the last flight out of Luqa on the morning of 1 April 1979.


Current use

Nowadays, the location has been developed into the main entry point of the modern, independent country of Malta, under the name
Malta International Airport Malta International Airport ( mt, L-Ajruport Internazzjonali ta' Malta, ) is the only airport in Malta and it serves the whole of the Maltese Islands. It is located on the Malta (island), island of Malta, southwest of the Maltese capital Vallett ...
. It is sometimes still referred to as "Luqa Airport" or "Valletta Airport".


See also

*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
*
List of air stations of the Royal Navy This is a list of naval air stations of the Royal Navy. Naval air stations are land bases of the Fleet Air Arm, the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. Current naval air stations Currently RNAS means "R ...


References

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External links


RAF Luqa Remembered
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luqa Airports in Malta Military installations of Malta
Luqa Luqa ( mt, Ħal Luqa, , ) is a town located in the Southern Region of Malta, 4.3 km away from the capital Valletta. With a population of 5,945 as of March 2014, it is a small but densely populated settlement which is typical of Malta's old ...
Luq World War II sites in Malta Luqa Military installations closed in 1979 Malta–United Kingdom military relations