Dakhla Airport is an airport serving Dakhla (also known as Dajla or ad-Dakhla, formerly Villa Cisneros), a city in Western Sahara, a disputed territory occupied by Morocco. (See Political status of Western Sahara)
The airport is operated by the Moroccan state-owned company Airports of Morocco.
History During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command as a stopover for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. It connected to Dakar Airport in the South and Agadir Airport to the north.The airport was then paved over in the 1960s by Francoist Spain. :File:Atcroutes-1sep1945.jpg. Spanish flag carrier Iberia had regular scheduled flights to the airport, for example in Winter 1970-1971, there were daily flights from Las Palmas.
Airport and facilities The Dakhla airport is used as public airport and by the Royal Moroccan Air Force. The long runway can receive a Boeing 737 or smaller planes. Parking space of or one Boeing 737.
The passenger terminal covers and is capable to handle up to 55,000 passengers per year. Public facilities available include a medical post and a prayer room.
The airport offers the following radio-navigation aids: VOR and DME.
Airlines and destinations The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Dakhla Airport:
Traffic statistics Item 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Aircraft movementsStatistics until 2006 from Statistics Movements , PDF document PassengersStatistics until 2006 from Overview passengers stats MA , PDF document Cargo (tonnes)Statistics until 2006 from freight stats , PDF document
Accidents and incidents
In November 1949, a Savoia-Marchetti SM-95C (I-LATI) of LATI sustained substantial damage in a landing accident here, but was later repaired. All 17 occupants survived.
References
External links
Accident history for VIL at Aviation Safety Network