Geçitkale Air Base

Geçitkale Air Base
IATA: GEC[1] – ICAO: LCGK[2]
Summary
Elevation AMSL	143 ft / 44 m
Coordinates	35°14′00″N 33°43′58″E / 35.23333°N 33.73278°ECoordinates: 35°14′00″N 33°43′58″E / 35.23333°N 33.73278°E
Map
GEC
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 09/27 9,350 2,850 Composite

Geçitkale Air Base (IATA: GEC, ICAO: LCGK) is a military airfield of the Turkish Air Force near Lefkoniko (Turkish: Geçitkale) in Northern Cyprus. Construction was completed around 1990. During the renovation of the Ercan International Airport between September 2002 and May 2004, it served as Northern Cyprus' primary civilian airport.^[3] Geçitkale's unofficial ICAO code is LCGK.^[4]

In the summer of 1998, amid rising tensions between Greece and Turkey, Turkey briefly stationed six F-16s at Geçitkale, in response to the former's positioning of four F-16s and two Lockheed C-130 Hercules at Paphos.^[5] Combat aircraft last visited the airport in November 2000.^[6]

Aerodrome characteristics

Geçitkale's only runway, 9/27, measures 2,850 m (9,350 ft) in length and 45 m (148 ft) wide. In addition, there is a 285 m (935 ft) long stopway on either end. The airport is equipped with a VOR/DME and an NDB station.^[4]

References

1. "Airline and Airport Code Search". IATA. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
2. "LCGK - Gecitkale/Gazimagosa International Airport". Skyvector.com. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
3. "Ercan Havaalanı 10 Mayıs'ta açılıyo" (in Turkish). Hürriyet. 6 May 2004. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
4. "AD 2 – Gecitkale" (PDF). TRNC AIP. 2 September 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
5. Clogg, Richard (2013). A Concise History of Greece (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 229.
6. "Geçitkale". Abandoned, Forgotten & Little-Known Airfields in Europe. Retrieved 11 November 2014.