The Kirkuk International Airport is an airport located

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. The airport officially opened in 20th October, 2022 for civil visitors. Since 2003 the airport was used by the

U.S. 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 Sign ...

as a military airport. It was returned to the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

in November 2011. In 2012, the Iraqi Transportation Ministry decided to move the military section to another location, a prerequisite for turning the air base into a civilian airport. According to the (Nazaha) committee, the government allocated 93.5 million dollars from the airport project.

History

At the onset of the Iran-Iraq War, Al-Hurriah was the main airbase use by the newly purchased

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...

s. It was bombed in

Operation Sultan 10 Operation Sultan 10 ( fa, عملیات سلطان ١٠) was an operation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) on 29 October 1980, the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War. In this operation six F-4E Phantom IIs from IRIAF's 32nd and 33r ...

in 1980 in the early phase of the war. Kirkuk Regional Air Base was home to the 506th Air Expeditionary Group. The group maintained base security, conducted safe flying operations and actively supported base agencies in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, Operation New Dawn, and other

U.S. Air Forces Central The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

and

U.S. Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

contingency plans. Approximately 1,000 active-duty, Reserve and Guard

Airmen An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions. In civilian aviation usage, ...

were assigned to the 506th AEG during any given Air Expeditionary Force rotation. Additionally, approximately 5,000 soldiers are assigned to the installation, commonly known as Forward Operating Base Warrior. As of July 2011, the majority of these soldiers were assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, and the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division. The 506th AEG was the most forward deployed Air Force Group in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The heritage of the 506th AEG is tied to the famous

506th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Among the base agencies the 506th AEG actively supports is the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

Airlines and destinations

The airport reopened to civilian aircraft in 2022.

Location

Kirkuk RAB lies in northeastern region of Iraq in the outskirts of the city of Kirkuk, one of the largest metropolitan areas in Iraq. Kirkuk is approximately north of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

References

External links

Official Website

KRAB Kronicle

Kirkuk News
{authority control Installations of the United States Air Force in Iraq Iraqi Air Force bases