Al Bateen Executive Airport ( ar, مطار البطين, ) is a dedicated

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pu ...

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

located south east of the city centre of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

. The airport is on the Abu Dhabi island. Other tenants include aviation assets of the UAE government. It opened in 1970 as Abu Dhabi International Airport (not to be confused with the current

Abu Dhabi International Airport Abu Dhabi International Airport ( ar, مطار أبو ظبي الدولي) is an international airport in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The airport, located east of Abu Dhabi city, is the second largest ...

) to replace the city's previous airport.

History

The airport was built in the 1960s, and in 1970, the airport was inaugurated as Abu Dhabi International Airport. In 1982, a new airport was opened on the mainland southeast of the city to accommodate the increasing air traffic. In 1983, Al Bateen became a military airbase, known as Bateen Air Base. Starting on 17 August 1990, two units of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

deployed to Al Bateen in preparation of what would ultimately become the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The first unit deployed to Al Bateen was the 50th Tactical Airlift Squadron from

Little Rock Air Force Base Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, naviga ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

with sixteen

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

transport aircraft. It was joined by the

41st Electronic Combat Squadron The 41st Electronic Combat Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with the 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona as a geographically separated unit from its parent wing, the 55 ...

from

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DM AFB) is a United States Air Force base southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing (355 WG) assi ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

with ultimately six

Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call The EC-130H Compass Call is an electronic attack aircraft flown by the United States Air Force. Based on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, the aircraft is heavily modified to disrupt enemy command and control communications, perform offensive counte ...

electronic attack aircraft, starting 26 August 1990. The airport remained under military control until 2008, when it became a civilian airport focusing on executive jets under the name Al Bateen Executive Airport. On December 8, 2022, the airport was the site of the

Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange On December 8, 2022, the United States and Russia conducted a prisoner exchange, trading Brittney Griner, an American basketball player best known for playing with the Phoenix Mercury, for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. Griner, a WNBA cham ...

Government use

Al Bateen's tenants include a UAE Naval Aviation helicopter squadron and the Abu Dhabi Police Department air wing.

Passenger airlines and destinations

Rotana Jet Rotana Jet ( ar, روتانا جت ''Rūtānā Jat'') is an airline with its main base at Al Bateen Executive Airport, Abu Dhabi. Its corporate head office is located in the NOVOTEL Gate Hotel, Khor Al Maqta Gate City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Em ...

operates private jet services from the airport, having moved all scheduled commercial operations to

Terminal 2 in October 2014.

Solar Impulse 2 Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, and also the name of the project's two operational aircraft. The privately financed project is led by Swiss engineer and businessman André Borschberg and Swiss ps ...

, a Swiss experimental solar powered aircraft, was given its final touches here in 2015. It used the airport as the starting point for its Around the World circumnavigation attempt. The aircraft took off on 9 March 2015 and flew to nearby Oman and then onwards to India. It was also used as the landing site for the final leg from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, landing July 25, 2016.

Historical airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Depictions

The airport is depicted in a set of

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

issued March 1969 by Abu Dhabi.

References

{{authority control Airports in the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Air Force bases 1969 establishments in the Trucial States