Diori Hamani International Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Transports de Niamey | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Summa Airports Niger SARLU | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Niamey, Niger | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Niamey, Niger | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Niger Airlines | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 732 ft / 223 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 13°28′54″N002°10′13″E / 13.48167°N 2.17028°E /13.48167; 2.17028 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | http://niameyairport.com | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  NIM Location within Niger | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2013) | |||||||||||||||
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| Sources: Agence pour la Sécurité de la Navigation aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar[1][2] | |||||||||||||||
Diori Hamani International Airport (IATA:NIM,ICAO:DRRN) is an airport inNiamey, the capital ofNiger.[3] It is located 9 km (5.6 mi) from Niamey in the south-eastern suburbs of the city, along theRoute Nationale 1, the major highway linking Niamey with the east of the nation. The airport complex also includes the major base for theArmed Forces of Niger's "Armee d'Air".
In 2019, the airport served 363,093 passengers. Theair traffic control for NIM is operated by theASECNA, which bases one of its five air traffic zones for the continent at Niamey.[4] The airport is named afterHamani Diori (1916–1989), the firstPresident of Niger.[5]
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 trainscivil aviation professionals and aviationmeteorologists from across Africa.[6][7]
TheNiger 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] The former American and French bases, both established in 2013, were located at adjacent parts of the airport.[13]
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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."[14] In July 2013,The New York Times reported thatthe deployment had expanded from onePredator UAV to daily flights by a detachment of two largerGeneral Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, supported by 120U.S. Air Force personnel.[15] The MQ-9 Reapers were scheduled to be relocated toNiger Air Base 201 in 2018.[16] Italy placed troops at the American base in 2018, supporting European Union interests in the region.[17]
Around 2013, twoKu band arrays were constructed at the airport to allow for communication withEADS Harfang UAVs.[18] TheFrench Air and Space ForceEscadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort operated threeMQ-9 Reapers out of the base starting in January 2014 in support ofOperation Barkhane.[10] France also deployedDassault Mirage 2000D aircraft from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) to the base.[11][19] France made Niamey a centre of operations duringOperation Serval of theMali War.[20] Germany also had 50 troops in Niamey in 2020 as part of theUnited Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.[21] A French Operational Transport Group was also based at the airbase as of 2020, controllingLockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft instead of the previousTransall C-160s.[22] In 2022, French assets were moved from Gao to aforward operating base in Niamey, which had 1,000 troops garrisoned and became France's largest center of operations in West Africa.[23]
The Nigerien Air Force maintains twoCessna-208 Caravans equipped forISTAR operations at the airport.[24][25]
In the aftermath of the2023 Nigerien coup d'état, bothFrance and theUnited States were told to withdraw their military personnel from the country. French forces departed from the airbase in December 2023.[26] In May 2024Russian 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.[27][28] On 7 July 2024, the U.S. completed withdrawal of all troops from the airbase.[29]
On 29 January 2026 theIslamic State stagedan attack on the base; gunfire was reported at the airport andFlightRadar24 showed a number of aircraft diverting away from the airport.[30] Authorities later said that gunmen attacked the base, leaving 20 attackers including a French national dead, 11 others arrested and four soldiers injured. It blamed France, Benin and Ivory Coast for sponsoring the assault, adding that it was repelled with the help of Russian soldiers stationed at the base.[31] Satellite photos showed damage to buildings with the military area of the airport.[32]
Diori Hamani International Airport is situated onRoute Nationale 1, which connects it to the city ofNiamey 9 km (5.6 mi) to the northwest, as well as toDosso,Maradi,Zinder,Goure,Diffa, andN'guigmi to the east.
The railway track passing by the airport, which connects it toNiamey railway station and Dosso, is abandoned since its construction (and will not be operational in the near future).
The American site is near Diori Hamani International Airport and the collocated Nigerien Air Force's Base Aérienne 101.
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.
The relocation of the MQ-9 Reapers from Air Base 101 to the new facilities at Agadez has been planned since 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).
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.
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.
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.
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Media related toDiori Hamani International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
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