Djerba–Zarzis International Airport (, ) is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

serving the island of Djerba in Tunisia. The airport was enlarged and named Djerba Zarzis International Airport in 1970. However, the airport dates to 1950 (initially named Djerba Mellita airport). Today, it is an important destination for seasonal leisure flights.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Djerba–Zarzis Airport:

Accidents and incidents

*On 6 August 2005, Tuninter Flight 1153, a Tuninter ATR-72 en route from Bari to Djerba, Tunisia, ditched into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

about 18 miles from the city of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. 16 of the 39 people on board died. The accident resulted from engine

fuel starvation In an internal combustion engine, fuel starvation is the failure of the fuel system to supply sufficient fuel to allow the engine to run properly, for example due to blockage, vapor lock, contamination by water, malfunction of the fuel pump or i ...

that resulted from the installation of the wrong fuel quantity indicator. The fuel quantity indicator installed had been calibrated for the smaller ATR-42 aircraft and showed significantly more fuel than was actually in the tank of the larger ATR 72. When the aircraft ran out of fuel, the indicator still showed 1800 kilograms of fuel remaining, thus confusing the crew for several minutes. Both engines stopped and the crew was forced to ditch the airliner in the sea. *The airport was a stopover for Air Berlin chartered flight AB7377, which was involved in a bomb scare. During loading at Hosea Kutako International Airport in Namibia, a suitcase was discovered that contained a clock, batteries and a firing mechanism. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the object was part of a test to assess the quality of airport screening procedures. The A330-200 aircraft was examined with an explosives sniffer dog, before it was allowed to fly to Munich Airport, via a stopover in Djerba.

References

External links

Tunisian Civil Aviation and Airports Authority (OACA)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Djerba-Zarzis International Airport Airports in Tunisia Djerba Airports established in 1970