Situated at an elevation of 1,840 feet (561 m) above sea level, Jalalabad Airport has one asphaltrunway measuring around 7,260 by 140 feet (2,213 m × 43 m). It also has at least 18 helipads, a number of hangars and buildings used for military purposes.[3] The other closest major public Afghan airports to Jalalabad are the Kabul International Airport in neighboring Kabul Province to the west and Khost AirportinKhost Province to the south.
Work on the airport began in the 1950s when Afghanistan was ruled by King Zahir Shah.[9] It was modernized during the 1960s with United States assistance.[2] During the Soviet–Afghan War, the Soviet Union turned the civilian airport into a military air base, used by an Afghan Mil Mi-24 squadron in Jalalabad.[10] In 1989, the Afghan Interim Government attempted to take the airport in what became the Battle of Jalalabad Airport, later escalating into the Battle of Jalalabad.[11] They were unsuccessful and pushed out by the Afghan Armed Forces. It was recently expanded by NATO forces during their decades-long war with the Taliban.
Jalalabad Airport handles only domestic flights. According to MoTCA, "there will be three to four flights each week."[1] Between August 2021 and July 2022, there were no scheduled airlines operating at Jalalabad Airport except those operated by the Afghan Air Force and United Nations agencies.[6][13]
Accidents and incidents
[edit]A U.S. Air Force C-130 at Jalalabad Airport in 2011
On 30 June 2010, a car bomb was set off and insurgents stormed the airport. According to Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the Taliban were responsible and killed 32 Afghan and non-Afghan security forces. According to NATO, there were eight Taliban deaths and one Afghan and one coalition member injured.[14][15]
11 people, including 6 United States Airmen and 5 passengers and 3 local nationals, were killed when a C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from Jalalabad Airport on 2 October 2015.[16]
Afghanistan
Media related to Jalalabad Airport at Wikimedia Commons
Aviation
