Rabah Bitat Airport

Rabah Bitat Airport El Mellah Airport
IATA: AAE – ICAO: DABB AAE Location of airport in Algeria
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	EGSA-Constantine
Serves	Annaba, Algeria
Elevation AMSL	5 m / 16 ft
Coordinates	36°49′45″N 7°48′50″E / 36.82917°N 7.81389°ECoordinates: 36°49′45″N 7°48′50″E / 36.82917°N 7.81389°E
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 3,000 9,843 Asphalt 05/23 2,290 7,513 Asphalt
Statistics (2013)
Passengers 466,053 Passenger change 12–13 50.8% Aircraft movements 8,348 Movements change 12–13 67.0%
Sources: AIP[1] DAFIF,[2][3] ACI's 2013 World Airport Traffic Report.

Rabah Bitat Airport (IATA: AAE, ICAO: DABB), formerly known as Les Salines Airport, and popularly as El Mellah Airport is an international airport located 9 km south of Annaba, a city in Algeria.^[1] It is named after Rabah Bitat, a president of Algeria (1978-1979).

Facilities

Terminal

The terminal has an annual capacity of 500,000 passengers.

A project to build a new international terminal has been awarded to the Egyptian company Arab Contractor. The terminal should be completed in 2007, leaving the existing one for hajj flights and peak season charters to Europe.

Statistics

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Passengers
Total	416,022	435,451	349,008	348,503	360,121
Domestic	316,751	331,580	239,114	247,855	250,285
International	99,271	103,871	109,894	100,648	109,836
Freight
Total	302.750	357.270	329.148	328.180	359.217
Domestic	185.532	180.773	147.519	215.883	237.124
International	117.218	176.497	181.629	112.297	122.093
Aircraft movements
Total	9,060	6,468	6,071	5,995	6,203
Domestic	8,089	5,439	4,849	4,893	5,041
International	971	1,029	1,177	1,102	1,162

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aigle Azur	Marseille, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly
Air Algérie[4]	Algiers, In Amenas, Istanbul-Atatürk, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Oran, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly Seasonal: Milan-Malpensa (begins 21 June 2016),[5] Nice (begins 24 June 2016)[6]
Tassili Airlines	Algiers, Hassi Messaoud

World War II

During World War II the airport was known as Bone Airfield, and was used by the German Luftwaffe. Later captured by the United States Army, the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in 1942-1943.

In November 1942 the Allies invaded French Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch). The British airborne operations in North Africa started on 12 November, when the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment carried out the first battalion sized parachute drop, on Bone airfield between Algiers and Tunis. The remainder of the brigade arrived by sea the next day. Bone Airfield was the base of 111 Squadron RAF, a Spitfire squadron under Squadron Leader Tony Bartley. One notable pilot to fly from Bone on occasion was Wing Commander Adrian Warburton who was an infrequent visitor after crash landing there on the 15th of November 1942.

References

1. AIP and Chart from Service d'Information Aéronautique - Algerie (French)
2. Airport information for DABB at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
3. Airport information for AAE / DABB at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006). Retrieved 2007-11-26.
4. "Air Algérie Route Map". Retrieved January 22, 2011.
5. http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/04/ah-aaecfk-jun16/
6. http://airlineroute.net/2016/04/04/ah-aaecfk-jun16/

External links

• Google Maps - Rabah Bitat
• Current weather for DABB at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for AAE / DABB at Aviation Safety Network