Vrazhdebna Air Base () or 16th Transport Air Base is a military air base, located on the site of
Sofia Airport
Sofia Vasil Levski Airport () is the main international airport of Bulgaria, located east of the centre of the capital Sofia. In 2019 the airport surpassed 7 million passengers for the first time. The airport serves as the home base for BH Air ...
. The air base functions as a hub for the 16th Transport Squadron of the BAF.
History
"Vrazhdebna" is the original name for Sofia Airport, used since its establishment in 1937. The name is derived from the nearby village of Vrazhdebna (now a suburb of Sofia) and is literally translated as ''hostile''.
Although various military transportation units, have been based at the airport since the late 1940s, it was not until 1994 when a separate military unit (16th Transport Air Base) was established. Both Sofia Airport and 16th TAB carry the official name "Vrazhdebna".
Units
Until 1950 it was the hub for the 14th Air Transport Regiment, which included mostly German aircraft (
Junkers Ju 52
The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. First introduced during 1930 as a civilian airliner, it was adapted int ...
,
Junkers A 35
Junkers A 35 was a two-seater cantilever monoplane, used for postal, training and military purposes. The aircraft was designed in the 1920s by Junkers (Aircraft), Junkers in Germany and manufactured at Dessau and by AB Flygindustri in Limhamn, Swe ...
). After 1950 it was renamed to 16th Transport Squadron and was equipped with
Lisunov Li-2
The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Khimki, Moscow-Khimki and, after the factory's evacuation in 1941, at the Tash ...
transport aircraft.
On some occasions Vrazhdebna Air Base also houses civilian
Aviation Detachment 28 aircraft, which carry senior members of the Bulgarian government.
See also
*
Dobroslavtsi Air Base
*
Cheshnegirovo Air Base
*
Gabrovnitsa Air Base
*
Uzundzhovo Air Base
*
Graf Ignatievo Air Base
*
Bezmer Air Base
*
Dobrich Air Base
*
Ravnets Air Base
*
Balchik Air Base
*
List of Bulgarian Air Force bases
*
The Bulgarian Cosmonauts
*
List of joint US-Bulgarian military bases
References
{{mil-aviation-stub
Air force installations of Bulgaria