Otumlo Airport

Otumlo Airport
Aerodromo Otumlo-Aeroporto internazionale di Massaua
Summary
Airport type Military-Public
Location Massawa
Elevation AMSL 90 ft / 30 m
Coordinates 15°41′0″N 39°22′5″E / 15.68333°N 39.36806°E / 15.68333; 39.36806Coordinates: 15°41′0″N 39°22′5″E / 15.68333°N 39.36806°E / 15.68333; 39.36806
Map
Otumlo Airport
Location of the airport in Eritrea
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 3,000 1,000 Dirt


Otumlo Airport (called also Massaua International Airport) was the first airport of Massawa. Its official Italian title was Aerodromo Otumlo-Aeroporto internazionale di Massaua. The air squadron ("412* Squadriglia") of Mario Visintini, the first Regia Aeronautica ace of World War II, was based here.[1]

History

Originally it was a simple airstrip used by the first military airplanes of Italy: it was created in the late 1920s near the port.

The airport was opened by the Italian authorities in 1935, at the beginning of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. It was initially used by military aircraft during the invasion, and later for military transport to conflict areas. In 1936 Ala Littoria started a civilian flight service with postal service from Massaua to Asmara and Mogadishu.

In the last years of the colonial period in Italian Eritrea, a 1,970 km airways line of Ala Littoria was established between Massawa and Djibouti-Berbera-Galadi-Mogadishu, with another of 770 km between Khartoum and Kassala-Asmara-Massaua.[2]

During WW2 the air squadron of air fighter ace Mario Visintini was based in Otumlo airport from June 11, 1940 until September 20, 1940[3].

In 1941 the airport was destroyed by the British and remained practically inactive for nearly twenty years. In the 1970s it was essentially built new from the ground up at a nearby location (nearly 20 km to the northwest) and enlarged, under the name Massawa International Airport.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Le Vittorio Aeree di Mario Visintini in Africa Orientale" (PDF).
  2. ↑ Flavio Riccitelli (A.I.D.A.). "ALA LITTORIA S.A. (1934–1941)". Il Postalista.
  3. ↑ Air Fighter aces: Captain Mario Visintini

Bibliography

  • Negash, Tekeste. Italian colonialism in Eritrea 1882-1941 (Politics, Praxis and Impact). Uppsala University. Uppsala, 1987.
  • Vincenzo Meleca, Le linee aeree dell'Africa Orientale Italiana, ()

See also


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