FLAG
Libyan Arab Air Force aviation units at
Tripoli International Airport
Earlier airport names:
Tripoli Idris International Airport
RAF Idris Airport
RAF Castel Benito Airport
Tripoli-Castel Benito Airport
The Libyan capital of Tripoli had two major airports in the second half of the 20th century. These two airports are often confused in Western aviation literature, but also frequently in Eastern literature. Let's take a look at the history of Tripoli International Airport.
The airport was built by Italian colonists in the 1920s. After World War II, the airport was used by the British.. The British expanded it and renamed it RAF Idris in honor of the Libyan king.
The Royal NAVY's Westland Wessex helicopter and Blackburn Buccaneer attack aircraft in front of the RAF Idris airport old tower.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the RAF Idris airport was used as a staging post for civil and military flights to and from the United Kingdom to the Middle East and Far East. And Royal Air Force and Royal NAVY aircrafts and helicopters used the local gunnery range at El Uotia and Tarhuna in the desert.
RAF Transport Command's Bristol Britannia and Vickers VC10 at Libyan RAF Idris airport. Photos source: RAF Idris FB Group
After the Libyan revolution, the the British withdrew from the country and RAF Idris airport was handed over to the Libyan Arab Republic in September 1969.
1970-1980 period - Tripoli International airport
In the first half of the 1970s, it continued to receive international and domestic civilian flights under the name Tripoli International Airport, and the Libyan Arab Air Force also stationed its new French and Italian-made helicopters there.
France delivered nine SA 321M Super Frelon and four SA 316B Alouette III helicopters to Libya between 1971 and 1972. The photo was taken of an 1345th Squadron’s SA 321M Super Frelon helicopter in Malta. Photo: Joe Ciliberti
In the first half of the 1970s, Libyan Arab Airlines flew Sud Aviation Caravelle, Fokker F27, and Boeing 727-200 airliners from Tripoli International Airport. The photo was taken of a Libyan Arab Airlines Caravelle airliner at Geneva International Airport in 1971. Photo: Clinton H. Groves
In the early 1970s, two new helicopter squadrons were created for the new helicopters. The 1345th Squadron received the bigger three-engined heavy transport SA 321M Super Frelon helicopters. Meanwhile, the smaller capacity French SA 316B Alouette III light utility helicopter and a few Italian made AgustaBell 206/205/212 helicopters belonged to the new 1315th Squadron. The French manufacturer set up industrial support capacity for these helicopters at Tripoli International Airport.
The 1345 and 1315 Helicopter Squadrons performed search and rescue missions from Libyan airfields. Then, in 1975 the form of the Libyan Military Mission In Malta with a contingent of two Aerospatiale SA 321M Super Frelon helicopter. The Libyan SAR helicopters were flown by a Libyan crew but were supplemented by Maltese rear crew members.
Due to increased demand, additional helicopters were ordered from France. A rospatiale delivered 14 more SA 316B Alouette III light helicopters to Libyan 1315th Squadron in 1976.
Libyan Arab Air Force aviation units at Tripoli International Airport in 1976-1977:
In the mid-1970s, construction began on a completely new international terminal that met the needs of the time. The new terminal was opened in 1978 to replace the old Italian/British buildings nearby. The old terminal building continued to be used for air cargo and passenger transport operations.
The new international terminal at Tripoli International Airport upon its opening in 1978.
Source: ليبيا قبل وتوا - Libya before and now FB Page
At the end of the 1970s, three new military types arrived at Tripoli International Airport.
Twenty Meridionali-Boeing CH-47C Chinook:
In 1976, Italy signed several major arms contracts with Libya, including one for the delivery of 20 Italian-built versions of the CH-47C Chinook produced under licence by Meridionali-Boeing. These were delivered between 1977 and 1980 and formed Chinook Squadron based at Tripoli International airport. The serial numbers of the helicopters ranged from LC-001 to LC-020
Photo: The LC-007 early Libyan CH-47C Chonook at Malta in 1977. Photo: Joe Cilibert
In 1979, a other new type arrived at the rebuilt Tripoli International Airport. Libya purchased five IL-76M military four-engine heavy air cargo aircraft from the Soviet Union. Libyan personnel traveled to Ivanovo north of Moscow, Soviet Union, in 1979 for reconversation training. The large team consisted of seven pilots and flight engineers, radio operators, navigators, maintenance personnel. All of them had previously gained experience on C-130 Hercules transport or Tu-22 ’Binder’ bomber aircraft.
These military IL-76M variants still had a gunner's turret at the rear of the aircraft.
The first retrained personnel returned to Libya in early 1980 to form the 1276th Squadron at Tripoli International Airport. They were welcomed at the airport by three IL-76M 'Candid' military transport versions and two Soviet retraining crews. The retraining of the Libyan crew was assisted by this two Soviet crew in Libya.
The first military task of the 1276th Squadron was to transport military equipment to Syria. After the Israeli-Syrian clashes in 1980, Libyan leader Gaddafi promised to make up for Syria's losses. In 1980, Libyan IL-76M "Candid" aircraft transported military equipment to Syria during for a month, including MiG-23MS ‘Flogger-E’ fighter jets from Benina airport. These missions remained memorable for the Libyan crew because the transfer of weapons was not supported by the Soviet Union, so they flew in international airspace over the Mediterranean for the first time without Soviet crew support.
In the meantime, two more IL-76Ms arrived from the Soviet Union for the 1276th Squadron, bringing the number of available aircraft to five by the second half of 1980. The Libyan Air Forces’s IL-76Ms flew with the civilian markings of Libyan Arab Airlines.
The new models were deployed almost immediately in the war in Chad, Libya. The IL-76M models played a key role in supporting the Libyan forces.
Meanwhile, Chinook helicopters provided direct support to army forces. Unfortunately, at that time, there were not enough personnel for the new models. For example, in 1980 there were only 14 pilots available for the twenty Chinook helicopters. Therefore, in the early 1980s, Western pilots were recruited to fly the Libyan Chinook helicopters over Chad.
Video
Libyan troop withdrawal from Chad in 1981 with 1276th Squadron’s Libyan IL-76M ‘Candid’ heavy transport aircrafts.
Between late 1980 and early 1981, six more Super Frelon helicopters arrived in Libya. These were radar-equipped SA 321GM anti-submarine helicopters.
Libyan SA 321GM Super Frelon SAR/ASW helicopters
At the time of their delivery, relations between Malta and Libya deteriorated and in 1980 the Libyan SAR contingent was excluded from Malta. Then, between 1981 and 1983, the Soviet Union delivered thirty Mil Mi-14PL 'Haze-A' helicopters too with similar capabilities to Libya.
As a result, the Libyan Super Frelon helicopters were confined to the Tripoli area in the eighties. Of the ten-year-old older SA 321M models, only four remained (four crashed in the 1970s of the original nine and one returned to France). These were joined by six new SA 321GM version stationed at Tripoli International Airport on the 1345th Squadron in the eighties
Major Libyan SAR bases and their patrol areas over Libyan coastal waters in the first half of the 1980s. While the 1315th Squdron's smaller SA 316B Alouette III light helicopters provided SAR services in the country's interior, all the way to Ozo Airport, which liesed just across the border with Chad.
Libyan Arab Air Force aviation units at Tripoli International Airport in 1980:
To be continued next weekend!