Annaba Rabah Bitat Airport , formerly known as Les Salines Airport, and popularly as El Mellah Airport is an international

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

located south of

Annaba Annaba (), formerly known as Bon, Bona and Bône, is a seaport city in the northeastern corner of Algeria, close to the border with Tunisia. Annaba is near the small Seybouse River and is in the Annaba Province. With a population of about 263,65 ...

, a city in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. It is named after

Rabah Bitat Rabah Bitat (; ALA-LC: ''Rābaḥ Bīṭāṭ''; 19 December 1925 – 10 April 2000) was an Algerian nationalist and politician. He served as interim President of Algeria from 1978 to 1979, after Houari Boumédiène's death. Career Bitat was ...

, a president of

(1978–1979).

History

During the era of French colonization in Algeria, the airport was named Bône-les-Salines, in reference to the

salt lakes A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

in the vicinity of the site. It was put into operation in 1939, and a decree of 16 December 1958, entrusted the operation to the Chamber of Commerce of Bône.

World War II

During World War II, the airport was known as Bone Airfield, and was used by the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

. It was later captured by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, the USAAF

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

in the

Western Desert Campaign The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with ...

in 1942–1943. In November 1942, the Allies invaded French Morocco and Algeria (

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

). The British airborne operations in North Africa started on 12 November, when the

3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and is a subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade. Roled as an Airborne light infantry unit, the battalion is capable ...

carried out the first battalion sized parachute drop on Bone airfield. The remainder of the

1st Parachute Brigade The 1st Parachute Brigade, or the Red Devils, was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War. As its name indicates, the unit was the first parachute infantry brigade formation in the British Army. Formed ...

arrived by sea the next day. Bone Airfield was the base of

No. 111 Squadron RAF Number 111 (Fighter) Squadron, also known as No. CXI (F) Squadron and nicknamed ''Treble One'', was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1917 in the Middle East as No. 111 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during the reorganisati ...

, a

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

squadron under Squadron Leader Tony Bartley. One notable pilot to fly from Bone on occasion was Wing Commander

Adrian Warburton Adrian "Warby" Warburton, (10 March 1918 – 12 April 1944) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) Aviator, pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. He became legendary in the RAF for his role in the defence of Siege of Malta (1940), Malta and was des ...

who was an infrequent visitor after crash landing there on 15 November 1942. 81 Squadron were based at Bone from 16 November to 31 January 1942 wit
'Ras' Berry DSO DFC
and then Colin F Gray DSO DFC being Squadron Leaders. Alan M Peart DFC also claimed his first aerial combat victory as well as two further aircraft damaged over Bone Harbour during this time.

Algerian war

After the war, the air base 213 one of the air bases of the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

, was established on the site at that time. It was home to the 1/91 Gascogne Bombardment Group, a unit recreated on 1 September 1956 (and temporarily dissolved on 17 September 1962, after the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

), which was equipped with Douglas B-26 Invaders.

Post-war period

After

Algerian independence An independence referendum was held in French Algeria on 1 July 1962. It followed French approval of the Évian Accords in an April referendum. Voters were asked whether Algeria should become an independent state, co-operating with France; 99.7 ...

and until 2000, Annaba airport was named El-Mellaha (meaning in Arabic "Les Salines"). Since then, the airport has been named in honor of Rabah Bitat, former head of the Algerian state.

Facilities

The old terminal had an annual capacity of 500,000 passengers. In January 2016, the new international terminal was opened. The new terminal, which on commissioning generated 300 jobs, has an expandable capacity of 700,000 passengers per year. File:Annaba Rabah Bitat Airport.jpg, Terminal of the airport. File:Aéroport d'Annaba.jpg, Terminal of the airport

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

The evolution of air traffic at Annaba airport between 2006 and 2020 is:

References

External links

Google Maps - Annaba Rabah Bitat
* * {{authority control Airports in Algeria Buildings and structures in Annaba Province