Bastia – Poretta Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Bastia Poretta; co, Aeroportu di Bastia Poreta), ) is an airport serving Bastia on the French mediterranean island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. It is located south southeast of Bastia at

Lucciana Lucciana (, , ) is a French commune in the department of Upper Corsica, collectivity and island of Corsica. Geography Situated on the eastern coast of Corsica nearly to the south of Bastia, the commune extends itself to the mountainous summi ...

, both of which are '' communes'' of the

Upper Corsica Haute-Corse (; co, Corsica suprana , or ; en, Upper Corsica) is (as of 2022) an administrative department of France, consisting of the northern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged w ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

History

Borgo Airfield - Corsica - 15 Aug 1944 -Nat Archives

In 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the airport was used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

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 ...

. On 31 July 1944,

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...

, the legendary French pilot, took off from this airport and disappeared, on a reconnaissance flight over France in a

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

. USAAF combat units assigned: * 414th Night Fighter Squadron, (

), 5 February–July 1944; 5 September – 13 October 1944,

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

*527th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, (Twelfth Air Force), 12 July-23 September 1944, P-47 Thunderbolt *

416th Night Fighter Squadron 416th may refer to: * 416th Air Expeditionary Operations Group, provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command * 416th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit * 416th Engineer Command (TEC), US Army Re ...

, (

), 14–23 August 1944,

P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night fight ...

417th Night Fighter Squadron 417th may refer to: *417th Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit *417th Bombardment Squadron a United States Air Force unit *417th Flight Test Squadron (417 FLTS), part of the 412th Test Wing based at Edwards Air Force Base, Cali ...

, (

), February–April 1944; 25 April – 7 September 1944,

* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . * * 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, (

3d Reconnaissance Group 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: * 003, fictional British 00 Agent * 003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) * 1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway * ''O03 (O2)'' and other rela ...

), 11 July – 24 September 1944, P-38/F-5 Lightning * 23rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, (

), 11 July – 24 September 1944, P-38/F-5 Lightning * 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, (

XII Tactical Air Command The XII Tactical Air Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe at Bad Kissingen, Germany, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1947. History The 12th Gr ...

), 21 July – 27 August 1944, P-51/F-6 Mustang *

42nd Bombardment Wing "The Skies for Us" , colors = , march = , mascot = , battles = Southwest Pacific Theater, First Gulf War , anniversaries = , de ...

was headquartered at the airfield, 21 September – 24 November 1944.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Bastia – Poretta irport:

Statistics

References

External links

Bastia Airport
(official site)
''Aéroport de Bastia-Poretta''
at ''Union des Aéroports Français'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastia - Poretta Airport Airports in Corsica

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

Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Buildings and structures in Haute-Corse