Taba airfield, Sinai, Egypt

[airsmiles]

I've just got back from holiday, flying to/from Taba International Airport in Egypt. Although this airport has very limited facilities and traffic, it does have 2 x 13,200ft parallel runways! (albeit one is currently out of use)

I'm guessing that it was previously a military airfield but I can't find out anything on the internet about it's history. Was it a British 2WW airfield, or perhaps a more recent development in connection with the Egypt/Israel wars in the seventies?

Any information on this airfield would be of interest if anyone could help out. A map or plan would also be great to work out how the airfield is being used now. It looks like the old 04R/22L runway is being used as an access road, but maybe it was just an old taxi way that we were driving on to get to the terminal building.

Many thanks

airsmiles

[cringe]

From http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/israel/iafbase.htm:

Etzion Airbase
Former home to Canaf 10. Formerly Ras El-Nakab airfield of the Egyptian Air Force, taken over by IDF/AF in 1973 and considerably upgraded into a fully operational airbase. Located in eastern Sinai, close to the town of Elat, (outside of the current Israeli border). Location coordinates: N29 36 E034 44, elevation: 2470 ft (753 m). Consists of one runway 04/22 degrees of 7986 ft (2434 m) length, with parallel taxi-way. After 1978 peace treaty with Egypt, also used by civilian charter aircraft up to jumbo-jet size. Starting point for Osirak nuclear reactor raid in Iraq. Returned to Egypt in 1981 and renamed "Taba International".

[London Jets]

I believe it was a former Israeli air force base. One of the runways is now aparently the access road to the airfield.

Airfield info

Rnwy 04/22 13,123ft (4,000mtrs) in length. 148ft (45mtrs) wide.
Apt Elev 2457ft
Taba Ground 121.9
Tower 120.3 120.8
N29 35.3 E034 46.7

I also believe it is a visual approach as well.

[airsmiles]

Thanks for this information. I suspect the runway length is the full 13,200ft as, when we landed, we had a very long and swift roll-out down the runway before exiting.

When you arrive by bus from the town of Taba, you turn left onto what appears to be an old runway, running parallel to the live runway. You then have to drive around the end of the live runway and back down the other side to reach the new terminal area. It's certainly a long way round!

There doesn't appear to be anything else happening on the airfield except the occasional charter flights. As far as I can tell they seem to average only 1 or 2 flights a day, and Eqyptair don't appear to have any scheduled flights in their timetable.

airsmiles

[Rainboe]

Very different at Sharm el Sheikh! I was there this month and expected a dusty airfield in the middle of nowhere with a few beach hotels nearby! I was astonished to see the scale of development- this place is like Majorca now, and as busy as it in the summer! Incredible number of enormoous hotels, lines of charter jets of various European charter companies, a very large modern departure terminal which had several thousand European/Russian tourists heading home, and apparently a large new terminal is already building. Suddenly a real tourist hotspot- and one of the few places giving good sunshine in March!
(Food still crap though)

[airsmiles]

Why has this thread been moved to the Spotters Area? It's nothing to do with spotting at all, but all to do with the history of the airfield. If the moderator wishes to query the forum that the post was started in, should they at least consult the originator?

airsmiles