Laurence,
Yes, we did find oil. There are several oifields up on the plateau between Riyan and Wadi Hadramat. The main facility is at 15°35' 30"N 49° 08' 00"E with the "CanOxy" airstrip 3nm west. The oil is piped to a loading facility on the coast, 7nm east of Riyan.
JW411,
I wondered about the old airfield west of Riyan. On Google Earth, there are four Il-28s and an An-24 by the threshold of 01. They are visible from the road and the first time I drove by there, I was was told they were decoys put there during the first Yemen Civil War.
If the runway was so good, do you have any idea why the new airfield was built?
I was in Aden in 1991. Khormaksar was a very sad sight. Very rundown and looking very incongruous with a mixture of British and Russian buildings. Crater on the other hand looked like it hadn't changed much since the 1930s when my grandfather was there and took lots of photos.
Simon
Last edited by India Four Two; 9th Aug 2010 at 14:33.