N'Djamena International Airport (; ) serves

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

, the capital city of

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

. 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 In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

. It has one

designated 05/23 with an

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

surface measuring .

French military base

What would become Fort-Lamy ''Base Aerienne'' 172 was occupied by a permanent detachment of

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

aircraft from 1939 until its abandonment in 1975. There has been a French 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), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

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

Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, 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 ...

fighters, Puma and

Caiman A caiman ( (also spelled cayman) from Taíno language, Taíno ''kaiman'') is an alligatorid belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within the Alligatoridae family (biology), family, the other being alligators. ...

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 a German abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium ''Transporter Allianz'', comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospa ...

Boeing KC-135 The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gav ...

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 w ...

) Operations are undertaken over neighbouring

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

for

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane (French language, French: ''Opération Barkhane'') was a counterinsurgency 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 S ...

, combating militant groups throughout the southern

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. The entire area is under the authority of COMELEF (''commandement des élément français''), typically a

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, and assistance with ATC). On September 7, 1987, a Tupolev

Tu-22 The Tupolev Tu-22 ( Air Standardization Coordinating Committee name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Nava ...

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

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

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

Chadian Air Force The Chadian Air Force () is the aviation branch of the Chad National Army. It was formed in 1961 as the Chadian National Flight/Squadron ( or ENT). The force shared a base with French forces at N'Djamena International Airport until Jan 25 when ...

with

Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' ( ('' 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 Ground Forces. The ...

Frogfoot, Mi-24 Hind helicopters, and

stationed there. The air base will be returned from January 31, 2025, after the denunciation of the military cooperation and security defense agreements by Chadian President Mahamat Deby.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

* On 7 November 1951, a Douglas C-47A-80-DL (F-BEIV) of Société de Transports Aériens Camerounais (STAC) crashed during takeoff. There were no fatalities; the plane was written off. * On 11 November 1952, a

Douglas C-54B-1-DC The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian ...

(F-BFVO) of UAT crashed en route to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

shortly after takeoff, killing 5 of the 6 occupants. * On 3 June 1955, a Douglas C-54A-5-DC (F-BFVT) of UAT overturned on landing on a cargo flight from

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

, killing all three occupants. * On 15 February 1963, a Nord 2501 Noratlas (45) of L'Armee de L'Air was destroyed by fire while fueling. * On 28 January 1978, Douglas C-47 TT-EAB of Air Tchad was reportedly "possibly shot down by

rebels A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...

" 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 ...

. The damaged aircraft apparently landed at N'Djamena International Airport. * On 10 March 1984, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63PF (F-BOLL) of

UTA Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States *University of Texas at Austin, in the United States *University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a R ...

was parked during a 1-hour intermediate stopover in N'Djamena on a flight from

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Shortly after arriving, however, a small bomb detonated in the baggage compartment; all 23 occupants were immediately evacuated; another explosion went off 20 minutes later, destroying the aircraft. * 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 N54629) 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

with 156 passengers and 14 crew members on board. There were no survivors. * On 17 August 1995, a Boeing 707-321C (YR-ABN) of

Air Afrique Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these cou ...

arriving on a cargo flight from Paris veered to the left on landing due to the no. 4 engine not reversing, and went off the runway going 10 knots (11.5 mph), with the left main landing gear striking a concrete block and collapsing. The plane was written off; all six occupants survived. * On 24 July 2001,

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired 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. T ...

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 18 September 2001, a Cessna 208 Caravan I (F-OHRM) owned by an A. Trichot was substantially damaged after being blown over by a gust of wind while standing and subsequently written off. * On 24 January 2007, Air West Flight 612, a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

, landed at N'Djamena after being hijacked. * In 2008 (date unknown), an Antonov An-12B (UP-AN208) of East Wing was damaged beyond repair in a non-fatal landing incident during a cargo flight. The right main undercarriage is reported to have collapsed.

References

External links

N'Djamena International Airport

Flightradar24 live air traffic data for N'Djamena International Airport
* * {{authority control Airports in Chad N'Djamena Military installations of France in other countries