Benina International Airport مطار بنينة الدولي
IATA: BEN – ICAO: HLLB
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau
Location		Benghazi
Elevation AMSL		433 ft / 132 m
Coordinates		32°05′49″N 20°16′10″E / 32.09694°N 20.26944°E / 32.09694; 20.26944Coordinates: 32°05′49″N 20°16′10″E / 32.09694°N 20.26944°E / 32.09694; 20.26944
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
15R/33L	11,731	3,576	Asphalt
15L/33R	11,732	3,576	Asphalt

Benina International Airport (IATA: BEN, ICAO: HLLB) (Arabic: مطار بنينة الدولي) serves Benghazi, Libya. It is located in the town of Benina, 19 km east of Benghazi, from which it takes its name. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the second largest in the country after Tripoli International Airport. Benina International is also the secondary hub of both Buraq Air and flag carrier, Libyan Airlines.

History

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force during the Eastern Desert Campaign. Known as Soluch Airfield, it was used by the 376th Bombardment Group, which flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from the airfield between 22 February - 6 April 1943. Once the combat units moved west, it was used as a logistics hub by Air Transport Command. It functioned as a stopover en-route to Payne Field near Cairo or to Mellaha Field near Tripoli on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.

USAF Air Transport Command Routes, 1 September 1945

Future plans

A new terminal with a capacity of 5 million passengers will be developed north of the existing runway at Benina International under a 720 million LYD (415 million Euros) first-stage contract awarded to Canada's SNC-Lavalin. The final cost is estimated at 1.1 billion LYD (630 million Euros). As with Tripoli International Airport, the new terminal was designed by Aéroports de Paris Engineering. Preliminary work and site preparation has started, but it remains unclear when the terminal will be open for operation.

The contract for Benina International Airport is valued at an estimated CAN$500 million and includes construction of a new international terminal, runway and apron. The new airport is part of an extensive new infrastructure program being undertaken by the government of Libya throughout the country.

“The new airport is a priority project for Libya and will provide an important additional gateway to the country’s second largest city,” said Riadh Ben Aissa, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

The project is expected to be completed in 2010, and the airport will welcome five million passengers per year.

“We have been working in Libya for over 20 years, mainly on water-related infrastructure projects, so we are delighted with this new opportunity to participate in Libya’s economic development by using another of our recognised areas of technical expertise,” he added.

SNC-Lavalin’s expertise in airports covers the full range of airport project development services and construction with project experience in Canada and worldwide.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

• On 4 April 1943, Lady Be Good WWII B-24 Liberator crashed south of Soluch Field and was lost for 15 years.
• On 9 August 1958, Vickers Viscount VP-YNE of Central African Airways crashed 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) south east of Benina International Airport, killing 36 of the 54 people on board.
• On 22 January 1971, a Douglas DC-3 of Ethiopian Airlines was hijacked on a domestic passenger flight from Bahar Dar Airport to Gondar Airport by four Eritrean hijackers. The aircraft was forced to land at Benghazi Airport.

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
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