El Nozha International Egyptian Airport or The International Egyptian Airport of Alexandria () was an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt, southeast of the city center.

History

The following

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

squadrons were here at some point at RAF Alexandria/Maryut: * Alexandria ** No. 14 Squadron RFC between 19 and 23 November 1915 with Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C ** No. 17 Squadron RFC between 11 and 18 December 1915 with B.E.2C ** No. 113 Squadron RAF between 14 and 23 March 1941 with the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

IV ** No. 202 Squadron RAF between 9 April 1920 and 16 May 1921 with the

Short 184 The Short Admiralty Type 184, often called the Short 225 after the power rating of the engine first fitted, was a British two-seat reconnaissance, bombing and torpedo carrying folding-wing seaplane designed by Horace Short of Short Brothers. It ...

No. 204 Squadron RAF No. 204 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit first formed in March 1915 as No.4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service. First World War No. 4 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service was formed on 25 March 1915 at Dover, Kent, from the former RNAS Defence Fli ...

between 22 October 1935 and 5 August 1936 with the

Supermarine Scapa The Supermarine Scapa was a British general reconnaissance flying boat built by Supermarine that was used by the Royal Air Force between 1935 and 1939. It was developed from the Southampton and formed the basis of the Supermarine Stranraer. De ...

** No. 228 Squadron RAF between 5 June 1939 and 16 June 1941 with the

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat Maritime patrol aircraft, patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of ...

I **

No. 230 Squadron RAF Number 230 Squadron Royal Air Force is a Royal Air Force (RAF) flying squadron, currently based at Medicina Lines in Brunei Darussalam, part of British Forces Brunei. The squadron was previously part of Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG), opera ...

initially between 24 October 1935 and 30 July 1936 with the

Short Singapore The Short Singapore was a British multi-engined biplane flying boat built after the First World War. The design was developed into two four-engined versions: the prototype Singapore II and production Singapore III. The latter became the Royal ...

III then again between 6 May 1940 and 19 June 1941 with the Sunderland I ** Detachment from

No. 267 Squadron RAF No. 267 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force that served during World War I & World War II. The squadron has been formed a total of four times. History The squadron was formed at RAF Kalafrana, Malta on 27 September 1918 from Nos. 360 ...

between September 1918 and December 1920 with the Felixstowe F.3 ** No. 269 Squadron RAF between 15 September and 15 November 1919 with the Short 184 **

No. 270 Squadron RAF No. 270 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron which disbanded at the end of June 1945. It operated both in the First and Second World War, mainly as an anti-shipping and anti-submarine squadron. It initially formed during October 1918 las ...

between April and September 1919 with the Felixstowe F.3,

Sopwith Baby The Sopwith Baby is a British single-seat floatplane that was operated by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) from 1915. Development and design The Baby (also known as the Admiralty 8200 Type) was a development of the two-seat Sopwith Tabloid, ...

, de Havilland DH9 and the Short 184 During World War II, RAF Maryut participated in reconnaissance and bombing missions during the North African Campaign. * Maryut **

No. 39 Squadron RAF Number 39 Squadron is an inactive squadron of the Royal Air Force. It last operated the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper from Creech AFB, Nevada, between January 2007 and July 2022. It had previously operated the English Electric Canberra PR.7, ...

between 15 October and 27 December 1941 with the

Martin Maryland The Martin Model 167 Maryland was an American light bomber Martin Maryland
Milit ...

I and the

Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Bristol Blenheim, Blenheim li ...

I ** Detachment from No. 74 Squadron RAF between December 1943 and January 1944 ** No. 94 Squadron RAF between 16 May and 1 June 1942 with the Curtiss Kittyhawk I ** Detachment from No. 112 Squadron RAF between June and September 1941 with the Curtiss Tomahawk I ** No. 250 (Sudan) Squadron RAF between 25 May and 13 June 1941 with the Tomahawk IIB ** No. 274 Squadron RAF between 10 September and 26 October 1941 with the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

IIB ** No. 601 (County of London) Squadron AAF between 23 and 25 June 1942 with the

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 ...

VC In 1947, RAF Maryut opened to civil aviation as El Nouzha Airport.

Overview

The future of the airport was in doubt with the opening of

Borg El Arab International Airport Borg El Arab International Airport is an international airport of Alexandria, Egypt. It is located about southwest of Alexandria, in Borg El Arab (alternate spellings: Borg Al Arab, Burg Al Arab or Burg El Arab). The airport also serves the n ...

. In early 2011, the

Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation The Ministry of Civil Aviation of Egypt (MCA, ) is the ministry in charge of civil aviation in Egypt. Duties The ministry sets civil aviation regulations, sets airworthiness and all flight rules, and air standards that must be met, making amendm ...

announced major plans to overhaul the airport and its facilities to ensure its future as one of the two commercial airports for

and

Nile Delta The Nile Delta (, or simply , ) is the River delta, delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's larger deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the eas ...

region. The renovation project was expected to cost US$12 million, which would have included lengthening the main runway (04/22) by an additional 750m and the construction of a new passenger terminal to replace the existing aging facility. Due to the length of the old runways, the largest aircraft operating into the airport were the

Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

, and

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) MD-90 is a retired American five-abreast single-aisle airliner developed by McDonnell Douglas from its successful model MD-80. The airliner was produced by the developer company until 1997 and then by Boei ...

. The airport was closed down by December 2011 to implement the expansion project and development and was scheduled to be reopened end of 2022. As of January 2024, the airport still remained closed. Satellite images showed the airports runways to be resurfaced and extended while the terminal site remains unfinished and abandoned.Satellite images on Google Maps, retrieved January 2016 Since then, it has been announced officially by the government that the airport will close completely and become defunct.

Airlines and destinations

The airport was originally closed for refurbishment and there are no longer any services. The airport previously offered services to domestic destinations within

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and cities across the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. Egyptair and its subsidiary Egyptair Express were the largest airlines at the airport, operating over 50 weekly domestic and regional flights with a mixture of

s and Embraer E-170s. It was also served by some foreign airlines, including

British Mediterranean Airways British Mediterranean Airways Limited (BMED), stylised as B, MED, was an airline with operations from London Heathrow Airport in England. It operated scheduled services as a British Airways franchise to 17 destinations in 16 countries througho ...

(BMED) from

London–Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Defunct airports in Egypt Airports in Egypt Buildings and structures in Alexandria Tourist attractions in Alexandria Transport in Alexandria

History

Overview

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links