Dakhla Airport

مطار الداخلة (Arabic)

Aéroport de Dakhla (French)
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorOffice National Des Aéroports (ONDA) /
Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF)
ServesDakhla
LocationWestern Sahara
Elevation AMSL36 ft / 11 m
Coordinates23°43′05″N 015°55′55″W / 23.71806°N 15.93194°W / 23.71806; -15.93194
Map
VIL is located in Western Sahara
VIL
VIL
Location of airport in Western Sahara
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 3,000 9,842 Asphalt
Statistics (2008, 2016)
Aircraft movements1,574
Passengers (2016)154,451 Increase
Cargo (tonnes)34.43

Dakhla Airport (IATA: VIL, ICAO: GMMH/GSVO) is an airport serving Dakhla (also known as Dajla or ad-Dakhla, formerly Villa Cisneros), a city in Western Sahara, a disputed territory. (See Political status of Western Sahara)

The airport is operated by the Moroccan state-owned company ONDA.

History

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command as a stopover for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. It connected to Dakar Airport in the South and Agadir Airport to the north.[4]

Airport and facilities

The Dakhla airport is used as public airport and by the Royal Moroccan Air Force. The 3 km (1.9 mi) long runway can receive a Boeing 737 or smaller planes. Parking space of 18,900 square metres (203,000 sq ft) or one Boeing 737.

The passenger terminal covers 670 square metres (7,200 sq ft) and is capable to handle up to 55,000 passengers per year. Public facilities available include a medical post and a prayer room.

The airport offers the following radio-navigation aids: VOR and DME.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Dakhla Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Binter Canarias Gran Canaria[5]
Royal Air Maroc Agadir, Casablanca, Laayoune, Paris–Orly
Transavia Paris–Orly[6]

Traffic statistics

Item 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
Aircraft movements[7] 1,574 1,492 839 674 606 492
Passengers[8] 42,066 36,354 21,253 21,442 11,670 12,149
Cargo (tonnes)[9] 34.43 48.63 59.77 61.06 140.96 107.81

Accidents and incidents

  • In November 1949, a Savoia-Marchetti SM-95C (I-LATI) of LATI sustained substantial damage in a landing accident here, but was later repaired. All 17 occupants survived.[10]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ↑ Dakhla airport information from Office National Des Aéroports (ONDA)
  2. ↑ Airport information for GMMH[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  3. ↑ Airport information for VIL at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  4. ↑ The airport was then paved over in the 1960s by Francoist Spain. File:Atcroutes-1sep1945.jpg
  5. ↑ "Binter adds Dakhla service from April 2017".
  6. ↑ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230724-tonw23af
  7. ↑ Statistics until 2006 from Statistics Movements Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document
  8. ↑ Statistics until 2006 from Overview passengers stats MA Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document
  9. ↑ Statistics until 2006 from freight stats Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document
  10. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Savoia-Marchetti SM-95C I-LATI Villa Cisneros, Western Sahara (VIL)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
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