Bastia-Poretta Airport
Bastia–Poretta Airport (IATA: BIA, ICAO: LFKB) is an airport serving Bastia on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. It is located 17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Bastia at Lucciana, both of which are communes of the Upper Corsica department.
Airphoto of Borgo Airfield, 15 August 1944. Note the large number of B-17s on the parking apron, probably used during the Invasion of Southern France.
History
In 1944, during World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Twelfth Air Force. On 31 July 1944, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the legendary French pilot, took off from this airport and disappeared, on a reconnaissance flight over France in a Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
USAAF combat units assigned:
- 414th Night Fighter Squadron, (Twelfth Air Force), 5 February–July 1944; 5 September – 13 October 1944, Bristol Beaufighter
- 527th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group, (Twelfth Air Force), 12 July-23 September 1944, P-47 Thunderbolt
- 416th Night Fighter Squadron, (Twelfth Air Force), 14–23 August 1944, P-61 Black Widow
- 417th Night Fighter Squadron, (Twelfth Air Force), February–April 1944; 25 April – 7 September 1944, Bristol Beaufighter
- 5th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, (3d Reconnaissance Group), 11 July – 24 September 1944, P-38/F-5 Lightning
- 23rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, (3d Reconnaissance Group), 11 July – 24 September 1944, P-38/F-5 Lightning
- 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, (XII Tactical Air Command), 21 July – 27 August 1944, P-51/F-6 Mustang
- 42nd Bombardment Wing was headquartered at the airfield, 21 September – 24 November 1944.
- 47th Bomb Group (Light) http://www.47thbombgroup.org/ 12 July - 5 September 1944, Douglas A-20, Douglas A-20 Havoc - Wikipedia and A-26 Douglas A-26 Invader - Wikipedia
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Bastia – Poretta airport:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Corsica | Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris–Orly Seasonal: Charleroi, Dole, Toulon |
| Air France | Paris–Orly |
| easyJet | Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Bordeaux, Geneva, Lisbon, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle |
| Eurowings | Seasonal: Berlin, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, Stuttgart |
| Lufthansa | Seasonal: Frankfurt, Munich |
| Luxair | Seasonal: Luxembourg |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Seasonal: Copenhagen, Stockholm–Arlanda |
| Transavia | Seasonal: Biarritz (begins 12 July 2025), Brest, Gothenburg, Lyon (begins 19 April 2025), Rotterdam/The Hague |
| Volotea | Seasonal: Bordeaux, Brest, Caen, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Strasbourg, Toulouse |
Statistics
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Annual passenger traffic at BIA airport.
See Wikidata query.
Notes
References
- ^ LFKB – BASTIA PORETTA. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 31 October 2024.
- ^ "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2022" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- ^
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
- ^ "Vier zusätzliche Reiseziele ab dem Flughafen Nürnberg: Eurowings baut Angebot aus". 22 January 2024.
- ^ ""Überraschung im Flugplan": Diese beliebte Hauptstadt wird endlich wieder ab Nürnberg angeflogen". 22 January 2024.
- ^ "Mallorca, Nizza und viele mehr: Neue Reiseziele vom Airport Nürnberg".
- ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22OCT24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ "TRANSAVIA FRANCE NS25 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 02OCT24". aeroroutes.com. 3 October 2024.
External links
Media related to Bastia Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Bastia Airport (official site) (in English)
- Aéroport de Bastia-Poretta at Union des Aéroports Français (in French)
- Current weather for LFKB at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for BIA at Aviation Safety Network
