Diori Hamani International Airport

Diori Hamani International Airport (IATA: NIM, ICAO: DRRN) is an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger.[3] It is located 9 km (5.6 mi) from Niamey in the south-eastern suburbs of the city, along the Route Nationale 1, the major highway linking Niamey with the east of the nation. The airport complex also includes the major base for the Armed Forces of Niger's "Armee d'Air".

Diori Hamani International Airport
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OwnerTransports de Niamey
OperatorSumma Airports Niger SARLU
ServesNiamey, Niger
LocationNiamey, Niger
Hub forNiger Airlines
Elevation AMSL732 ft / 223 m
Coordinates13°28′54″N 002°10′13″E / 13.48167°N 2.17028°E / 13.48167; 2.17028
Websitehttp://niameyairport.com
Map
NIM is located in Niger
NIM
NIM
Location within Niger
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09R/27L 3,800 12,467 Bitumen
09L/27R 3,000 9,843 Laterite
Statistics (2013)
Passengers165,000
Sources: Agence pour la Sécurité de la Navigation aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar[1][2]

Overview

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Traffic

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In 2019, the airport served 363,093 passengers. The air traffic control for NIM is operated by the ASECNA, which bases one of its five air traffic zones for the continent at Niamey.[4] The airport is named after Hamani Diori (1916–1989), the first President of Niger.[5]

EAMAC

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ASECNA operates the "African School for Meteorology and Civil Aviation/Ecole Africaine de la Météorologie et de l'Aviation Civile" at the Niamey airport complex, as well as in the Plateau quarter of Niamey city centre. Founded in 1963, EAMAC trains civil aviation professionals and aviation meteorologists from across Africa.[6][7]

Base Aérienne 101

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The Niger Air Force maintains Base Aérienne 101, which is collocated with Diori Hamani International Airport. It has been variously used by American, French, and Russian armed forces as a base for operations and training missions.[8][9][10][11][12]

In 2013, U.S. African Command spokesman Benjamin Benson confirmed that U.S. air operations conducted from Base Aérienne 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport were providing "support for intelligence collection with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region."[13] In July 2013, The New York Times reported that the deployment had expanded from one Predator UAV to daily flights by a detachment of two larger MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, supported by 120 U.S. Air Force personnel.[14] The MQ-9 Reapers were scheduled to be relocated to Niger Air Base 201 in 2018.[15]

Around 2013, two Ku band arrays were constructed at the airport to allow for communication with EADS Harfang UAVs.[16] The French Air and Space Force Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort operated three MQ-9 Reapers out of the base starting in January 2014 in support of Operation Barkhane.[10] France also deployed Dassault Mirage 2000D aircraft from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) to the base.[11][17] A French Operational Transport Group was also based at the airbase as of 2020, controlling Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft instead of the previous Transall C-160s.[18]

The Nigerien Air Force maintains two Cessna-208 Caravans equipped for ISTAR operations at the airport.[19][20]

In the aftermath of the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état, both France and the United States were told to withdraw their military personnel from the country. French forces departed from the airbase in December 2023.[21] In May 2024 Russian troops moved in to one of the airports' hangars while some U.S. troops were still on the same property, but not in same buildings.[22][23] On 7 July 2024, the U.S. completed withdrawal of all troops from the airbase.[24]

Airlines and destinations

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AirlinesDestinations
Afriqiyah Airways Tripoli–Mitiga
Air Algérie Algiers
Air Burkina Ouagadougou
Air Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan, Ouagadougou[25]
Air France Lomé, Paris–Charles de Gaulle[26]
ASKY Airlines Cotonou, Lomé, Ouagadougou
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa, Ouagadougou (begins 2 December 2024)[27]
Fly Oya Tripoli–Mitiga
Libyan Airlines Tripoli–Mitiga
Niger Airlines Agadez
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
Tunisair Abidjan, Tunis
Turkish AirlinesIstanbul,[28] N'Djamena

Statistics

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Annual passenger traffic at NIM airport. See Wikidata query.

Ground transportation

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Road

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Diori Hamani International Airport is situated on Route Nationale 1, which connects it to the city of Niamey 9 km (5.6 mi) to the northwest, as well as to Dosso, Maradi, Zinder, Goure, Diffa, and N'guigmi to the east.

Rail

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The railway track passing by the airport, which connects it to Niamey railway station and Dosso, is abandoned since its construction (and will not be operational in the near future).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Aeronautical chart" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  2. ^ List of the busiest airports in Africa
  3. ^ "Attributions des départements de l'ANAC Archived 4 June 2013 at archive.today." Agence nationale de l'aviation civile du Niger. Retrieved on 3 June 2013.
  4. ^ Visites du ministre des Transports et de l'Aviation Civile à l'aéroport international Diori Hamani de Niamey et au CNUT: s'enquérir des conditions de travail des agents Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Seini Seydou Zakaria, le Sahel (Niamey) 18 June 2009
  5. ^ "Hamani Diori, first President of the Republic of Niger, and …". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  6. ^ L'EAMAC Archived 29 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine. asecna.aero Accessed 18 June 2009
  7. ^ L'EAMAC, c'est la Météorologie, l'Aviation Civile, l'Electronique et l'Informatique au service de la Sécurité de la Navigation Aérienne. Official website. Accessed 18 June 2009
  8. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (20 May 2014). "Niger is the New Hub for American Ops in North, West Africa". Offiziere.ch. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. The American site is near Diori Hamani International Airport and the collocated Nigerien Air Force's Base Aérienne 101.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "New Satellite Images Show Expanded Drone Base in Africa". War Is Boring. 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. The base is located next to the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's capital. It isn't a secret, but both Washington and Paris are tight-lipped about its operations.
  10. ^ a b Lert, Frédéric (10 January 2017). "France receives two more Reapers, deploys them to Niger". Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Niger: Hollande visite la base des drones français" (in French). Radio France Internationale. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021.
  12. ^ Stewart, Phil (5 July 2024). "US to complete withdrawal from Niger's Air Base 101 on Sunday". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024.
  13. ^ Turse, Nick (5 September 2013). "The Pivot to Africa". TomDispatch.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2021.
  14. ^ Schmitt, Eric (10 July 2013). "Drones in Niger Reflect New U.S. Tack on Terrorism". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013.
  15. ^ Seligman, Lara (4 September 2018). "Shadowy U.S. Drone War in Africa Set to Expand". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. The relocation of the MQ-9 Reapers from Air Base 101 to the new facilities at Agadez has been planned since 2014.
  16. ^ "Imagery of the Week: Drone Aprons at Niamey". Open Source IMINT. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. The latest imagery from DigitalGlobe from 10OCT13 shows the two drone aprons and their support areas at the airport including their associated ku-band arrays. Note the French apron has two arrays for the Harfang as the UAV requires a low data rate link for the ground control station and a high data rate link for collected data (e.g. video, photos).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "3 French Mirage jet fighters deployed in Jordan". The Times of Israel. Agence-France Presse. 30 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Pilots from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) are pictured next to a Mirage 2000D fighter jet at the Air Base 101, on November 23, 2014 in Niamey.
  18. ^ "France terminates half-century of Transall Operations in Africa". AirForces Monthly. No. 390. September 2020. p. 12. ISSN 0955-7091.
  19. ^ Biggers, Chris (3 January 2016). "Imagery Confirms Niger's New Cessna 208 Caravan". bellingcat. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. The latest commercial satellite imagery acquired by DigitalGlobe confirms the arrival of two Cessna-208 Caravan to Nigerien Air Force's Base Aérienne 101 in Niamey [...] The U.S. Embassy in Niger notes the aircraft are equipped for the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission.
  20. ^ "US Presents Niger with Cessnas". United States Department of State. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 8 February 2016. The ceremony marks the culmination of 12 months of planning, training and execution of two projects: The transfer of two Cessna C-208 Caravans with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to the Nigerien Air Force; and the transfer of 40 military vehicles (Land Cruisers, ambulances, and cargo trucks), 250 sets of uniforms and personal protective equipment, radios and associated spare parts to the 24th Battalion Inter-armée (BIA) of Dirkou.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ Douce, Sophie (24 December 2023). "REPORTAGE. Au Niger, le départ des soldats français célébré par les partisans de la junte". Ouest-France (in French). Archived from the original on 24 December 2023.
  22. ^ Stewart, Phil; Ali, Idrees (3 May 2024). "Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says". Reuters. Archived from the original on 12 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Russian military personnel enter Niger airbase where some U.S. troops remain". Reporting contributed by Eleanor Watson. CBS News. Agence-France Presse. 3 May 2024. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  24. ^ Baldor, Lolita C. (5 July 2024). "US says troops are leaving Niger bases this weekend and in August after coup". AP News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Air Cote d'Ivoire International Service Changes in Oct 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Air France NW24 Niamey Service Resumptions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Ethiopian Airlines NW24 Africa Service Changes – 01SEP24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Istanbul New Airport Transition Delayed Until April 5, 2019 (At The Earliest)". 9 April 2019.
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