Al Jufra Airbase

Al Jufra Airbase

Al Jufra Airbase
Al Jufra Airbase; ; Al Jufra Airbase
	IATA: none; ICAO: HL69;
Summary
Airport type	Military
Operator	Libyan Air Force
Serves	Waddan, Libya
Elevation AMSL	846 ft / 258 m
Coordinates	29°11′53″N 16°00′04″E / 29.19806°N 16.00111°E
Map
	Al Jufra Location of the airport in Libya
Runways
	Source: GCM Google Maps

Al Jufra Airbase (ICAO: HL69) is a Libyan Air Force base in Waddan, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northeast of Hun, a desert city in the Jufra District of Libya. It was originally used by the Libyan Arab Air Force during the Gaddafi-era from 1969 to 2011.

The runway length does not include 198 metres (650 ft) paved overruns on each end.

The Hon non-directional beacon (Ident: HON) is located 4.7 nautical miles (8.7 km) southwest of the airport.^[3]

History

Prior to the First Libyan Civil War, during the 1980s, the No. 1025 Squadron operated Mig-25PDs at the Al Jufra-Hun Airbase for defense of the north coast. TU-22, G.222, and An-26 were based at Jufra, parked on open pavement, sand berm shielded pads, and in aircraft shelters.^[4] Considering the positioning of many of the aircraft visible in the satellite imagery, and what is known of the maintenance record of the Libyan Air Force, the operational inventory of combat aircraft based at Jufra in 2011 can be assumed to be quite low. The G.222 is believed to have not flown for more than a decade.

No-Fly Zone enforcement

The airbase was bombed on 24 March 2011 by French aircraft, in accordance with the UN-backed enforcement of the No-Fly Zone over Libya.^[5] Over two and a half months later, on 13 June, the area was again struck by NATO forces.^[6]