N'Djamena International Airport ( ar, مطار انجمينا الدولي; french: Aéroport international de N'Djaména) serves

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are the ...

, the capital city of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

. It is the country's only international airport. The airport is dual use, with civilian and military installations on opposite sides of the single

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has one

designated 05/23 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface measuring .

French military base

There has been a

French military The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. France ...

base here since independence, the only lapses being in 1975 and again for a couple of years beginning in 1978. After

Operation Epervier Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Operation (game), ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * Operations (magazine ...

started, it has been extensively used by French Air Force and Army during various operations. In 2016, Epervier is composed of about 1500 men, a dozen

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (''Arm ...

fighters, Puma and

Caiman A caiman (also cayman as a variant spelling) is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family, the other being alligators. Caimans inhabit Mexico, Central and South America fro ...

helicopters, and transport and tankers aircraft (

C-160 Transall The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and ...

Boeing KC-135 The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport ...

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

) Operations are undertaken over neighbouring Mali and Niger for

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region.French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

colonel. The importance of the operation does mean that the runway is always open, and that excellent primary radar coverage is provided, as well as other facilities (military hospital, rescue and fire services, assistance with ATC) On September 7, 1987 a Tupolev

Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 (NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s. The aircraft was a disappointme ...

of the Libyan Arab Air Force was shot down as it was bombing the French base. French Army

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

missiles downed this aircraft, three crew members being killed - and the bombs missed their targets, falling in sandy areas. The French base is also shared by the

Chadian Air Force The Chadian Air Force (french: Armée de l'Air Tchadienne or AAT) is the aviation branch of the Chad National Army. It was formed in 1961 as the Chadian National Flight/Squadron ( or ENT). The force shares a base with French forces at N'Djamen ...

with

Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач (''rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Gro ...

Frogfoot,

Mi-24 Hind The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been o ...

helicopters, and

stationed there.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Incidents

* On 28 January 1978, Douglas C-47 TT-EAB of Air Tchad was reportedly shot down by rebels near

Tibesti The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and is ...

. The damaged aircraft apparently landed at N'Djamena International Airport. * On 19 September 1989,

UTA Flight 772 UTA Flight 772 was a scheduled international passenger flight of the French airline Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) operating from Brazzaville in the People's Republic of the Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ...

, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 (registration N5462

operating the Brazzaville-N'Djamena-Paris CDG sector, was bombed 46 minutes after take-off from N'Djamena causing the aircraft to crash while flying over

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesVickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

3D-OHM of Transtel was damaged beyond economic repair in a take-off accident. Although written off by the insurers, the aircraft was repaired. Repairs were almost complete when a soldier accidentally discharged his gun, puncturing a fuel tank. * On 24 January 2007, Air West Flight 612, a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

, landed at N'Djamena after being hijacked.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Airports in Chad N'Djamena Military installations of France in other countries