Mitiga International Airport (IATA: MJI, ICAO: HLLM) (مطار معيتيقة الدولي) is an airport that serves Tripoli, Libya, located about 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of Tripoli's city centre. Since 2018 it has been the sole international airport serving Tripoli following the closure of Tripoli International Airport after it was severely damaged in the second Libyan civil war.
The airport has a diverse international history and has been known by a variety of names. It was originally built in 1923 as an Italian air force base called aeroporto militare di Mellaha. It became a German air base during World War II. The airbase was captured by the British 8th Army in January 1943 and transferred to the control of the US Army Air Forces, who called it Mellaha AAF until 1945, when they renamed it Wheelus Air Base for a US airman killed that year. American use continued until the 1969 Libyan coup d'état and the subsequent expiration of the lease. When the Americans left, the base was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base (قاعدة عقبة بن نافع الجوية) after the Islamic general who conquered North Africa. It was used by both the Libyan and Soviet air forces. The United States bombed the base in 1986 during Operation El Dorado Canyon. In 1995, the air base was converted to a second civilian airport for Tripoli, and was given its current name.
The airport was originally built in 1923 by the Italian Air Force as Mellaha Air Base (الملاّحة). A motor racing circuit was subsequently built around the airport and Mellaha Lake began hosting the popular Tripoli Grand Prix in 1933.[1]
Mellaha was used by the German Luftwaffe during the North African Campaign,[2] with the Germans using it for short range recon units, as well as coastal and naval recon units. Special weather recon units also existed at Mehalla. The main Luftwaffe unit stationed at the base was the 2nd Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14 or 2.(H)/14. The squadron was equipped with twelve single-engine Henschel Hs 126, an aircraft with a 2-man crew, which could cover approx 710 km, with a maximum speed of 360 km/h, as well as three Fieseler Fi 156 Storch liaison aircraft, and a Junkers Ju 52 for transport of men and materiel.
On 15 April 1945, Mellaha AAF was taken over by USAAF's Air Training Command. It was renamed Wheelus Army Air Field (AAF) on 17 May 1945 in honor of USAAF Lieutenant Richard Wheelus who had died earlier that year in a plane crash in Iran. During the USAFs tenure, the base was extended, demolishing the derelict motor-racing buildings. A 1954 agreement with Libya extended use of the base until 1971, but changing needs led the United States to withdraw completely by 1970, handing the facility over to the new Libyan government that had taken power a year earlier in the 1969 Libyan coup d'état.
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After the US Air Force left in 1970, the base was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base (seemingly after the legendary hero Uqba ibn Nafi) and served as a Libyan People's Air Force (LPAF) installation. The base housed the LPAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities. In addition, aircraft and personnel of the Soviet Air Force took up residence at the base.[citation needed]
LPAF Soviet-made MiG-17/19/25 fighters and Tu-22 bombers were based at Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. Of the combat aircraft, the US State Department estimated in 1983 that fifty percent remained in storage, including most of the MiG fighters and Tu-22 bombers.
The base was a primary target of the 1986 United States bombing of Libya (Operation "El Dorado Canyon"), launched against Libya due to missile attacks on US aircraft and Libyan involvement in terrorist attacks against US servicemen in Europe.[5] At 2 a.m. on 16 April 1986, Okba Ben Nafi AB, various Libyan government buildings, and three alleged Libyan terrorist training camps were bombed by General Dynamics F-111 Aardvarks from the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying from the United Kingdom, to Libya.
Okba Ben Nafi AB was converted for civilian use and became Mitiga Airport in 1995.[6] The airport also housed the headquarters of Buraq Air.[7]
2011 Libyan civil war
During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the Times of Malta and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protesters opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.[8][9] On 13 March 2011, Ali Atiyya, a colonel of the Libyan Air Force at the airport, defected and joined the anti-Gaddafi forces.[10] On 21 August 2011, rebels launched an assault on Mitiga as part of a bid to battle loyalist forces in Tripoli, sustaining a number of casualties in the process.[11] On 25 October 2011 Google Earth released multispectral imagery from GeoEye taken on 28 August 2011 which showed the airfield as well as the highly capable MiG-25 aircraft with no visible damage. This imagery helped corroborate reporting which suggested that the airfield had been taken over early on by opposition protesters; moreover, NATO and US air forces would have wanted to avoid collateral damage to the opposition movement.[12]
On 27 July 1989, Korean Air Flight 803 was a scheduled International passenger service from Seoul, South Korea to Tripoli, Libya with intermediate stops in Bangkok, Thailand and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There were a total of 199 occupants. The weather at the time of the crash consisted of heavy fog and visibility was between 100 and 800 feet (30 and 244 m). Nevertheless, in such circumstances, the flight crew decided to continue the approach. On approach to runway 27, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 dropped below the glide path, then at 7:05 (according to other data - 7:30), it crashed into two buildings, broke into three sections, and burst into flames. The crash site was in an orchard 1.5 miles (2.4 km; 1.3 nmi) short of runway 27. 75 people (72 passengers and 3 crew members) died in the crash, in addition to four people on the ground.
On 22 December 1992 Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103 was a Boeing 727-2L5 with 10 crew and 147 passengers on board that collided with a LARAF Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23UB on 22 December 1992. All 157 people on board flight 1103 were killed, while the crew of the MiG-23 ejected and survived. It is the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Libyan history.
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