Djerba–Zarzis International Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport international de Djerba-Zarzis, ar, مطار جربة جرجيس الدولي) is the international airport serving the island of

Djerba Djerba (; ar, جربة, Jirba, ; it, Meninge, Girba), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. It had a population of 139,544 ...

in Tunisia. The airport began operation in 1970 and today is an important destination for seasonal leisure flights.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Djerba–Zarzis Airport:

Accidents and incidents

*On 6 August 2005,

Tuninter Flight 1153 Tuninter Flight 1153 (UG1153/TUX1153) was a Tuninter Airlines international flight from Bari International Airport in Bari, Italy, to Djerba-Zarzis Airport in Djerba, Tunisia. On 6 August 2005, the Tuninter ATR 72 ditched into the Mediterrane ...

, a

Tuninter Tunisair Express (french: Société des Lignes Intérieures et Internationales, ar, الخطوط التونسية السريعة) is an airline based in Tunis, Tunisia that was founded on 1 August 1991. Formerly known as Tuninter ( ar, الخط ...

ATR-72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, Flight length, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by Aerospace manufacturer, aircraft manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR (french: Avions de transport région ...

en route from Bari to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, ditched into the

Mediterranean Sea 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 ...

about 18 miles from the city of Palermo. 16 of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from engine

fuel starvation In an internal combustion engine, fuel starvation is the failure of the fuel system to supply sufficient fuel to allow the engine to run properly, for example due to blockage, vapor lock, contamination by water, malfunction of the fuel pump or in ...

that resulted from the installation of the wrong fuel quantity indicator. The fuel quantity indicator installed had been calibrated for the smaller

ATR-42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

aircraft and showed significantly more fuel than was actually in the tank of the larger ATR 72. When the aircraft ran out of fuel, the indicator still showed 1800 kilograms of fuel remaining thus confusing the crew for several minutes. Both engines stopped and the crew was forced to ditch the airliner in the sea. *The airport was a stopover for

Air Berlin Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...

chartered flight AB7377, which was involved in a bomb scare. During loading at

Hosea Kutako International Airport Hosea Kutako International Airport (also known as HKIA) is the main international airport of Namibia, serving the capital city Windhoek. Located well east of the city, , it is Namibia's largest airport with international connections. From it ...

in Namibia, a suitcase was discovered that contained a clock, batteries and a firing mechanism. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the object was part of a test to assess the quality of airport screening procedures. The A330-200 aircraft was examined with an explosives sniffer dog, before it was allowed to fly to

Munich Airport Munich International Airport- Franz Josef Strauß (german: link=no, Flughafen München) is an international airport serving Munich and Upper Bavaria. It is the second-busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic after Frankfurt A ...

, via a stopover in Djerba.

References

External links

Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airports Authority (OACA)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Djerba-Zarzis International Airport Airports in Tunisia Djerba Airports established in 1970