Bastia 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, Rome–Fiumicino, Toulon |
| Air France | Paris–Orly |
| easyJet | Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse, Bordeaux, Geneva, London–Gatwick, Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle |
| Eurowings | Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn (resumes 12 April 2025), 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), Montpellier (begins 12 July 2025), Oujda, Rotterdam/The Hague |
| Volotea | Seasonal: Bordeaux, Brest, Caen, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Rodez (begins 12 April 2025), Strasbourg, Toulouse |
Statistics
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found 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 23 January 2025.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "LIST OF PUBLIC SERVICE OBLIGATIONS" (PDF). Aeroroutes.com. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
- ^ Liu, Jim (10 May 2023). "Air Corsica NS23 Italy Network Expansion". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ "Eurowings NS25 Network Additions – 01DEC24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (14 February 2023). "Eurowings NS23 Network Update – 12FEB23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
- ^ "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".
- ^ Liu, Jim (18 May 2022). "Eurowings Leased Avion Express A320 Operation in NS22". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Liu, Jim (13 February 2023). "Lufthansa NS23 Europe Frequency Variations – 12FEB23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
- ^ Liu, Jim (22 January 2024). "Lufthansa / Air Dolomiti NS24 European Network/Frequency Changes – 21JAN24". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
- ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22OCT24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (6 March 2023). "Transavia France NS23 Network Additions – 02MAR23". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
- ^ "TRANSAVIA FRANCE NS25 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 02OCT24". aeroroutes.com. 3 October 2024.
- ^ "Transavia France NS25 Network Additions – 22DEC24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ Liu, Jim (27 June 2022). "Transavia NS22 Belgium/Netherlands Network Expansion". Aeroroutes.com. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Volotea NS25 Rodez Network Additions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
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
