Friday, October 17, 2008

B*N*S*N3

Air traffic control tower at Basrah International Airport
[Picture: Cpl Rob Knight, RLC]

Building Basra's air traffic control capability

A Military Operations news article

16 Oct 08

RAF personnel no longer exclusively operate Basra's air traffic control tower. In the fourth of our special features from southern Iraq we see how, with the RAF's help, Iraqi air traffic controllers have been developing their skills to the point where they are now landing British and American military aircraft on their own. Report by Danny Chapman.

Handing over Basrah International Airport to full Iraqi control is one of the main objectives that the current General Officer Commanding Multi National Division (South East) Iraq, Major General Andy Salmon, has been tasked with for his six month tenure. A key aspect of that objective is handing over full control of the airport's air traffic control tower.

Since 2004 the airport has been operated as a combined military and civilian facility. Commercial flights re-commenced at Basrah International Airport (BIA) that year, and the importance of the airport in enabling the economic development of southern Iraq is crucial....


Very interesting article which you can read here.

Lots of other interesting 'stuff' on that same page, too!

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