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RAF Luqa | |||||||||
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| Malta | |||||||||
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| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  RAF Luqa Shown within Malta | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°51′27″N014°28′39″E / 35.85750°N 14.47750°E /35.85750; 14.47750 | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1940 (1940) | ||||||||
| In use | 1941–1979 (1979) | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Elevation | 78 metres (256 ft)AMSL | ||||||||
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Royal Air Force Luqa (or more simplyRAF Luqa) is a formerRoyal Air Forcestation located on the island ofMalta, now developed into theMalta International Airport.
It hosted aircraft ofAir Headquarters Malta (AHQ Malta) during theSecond World War. Particularly during theSiege of Malta from 1941 to 1943, RAF Luqa was a very important base forBritish Commonwealth forces fighting againstItaly andGermany for naval control of theMediterranean and for ground control of NorthAfrica. Air combat over and near Malta was some of the most ferocious of the war, and a series of airfields were built on the small, rocky island: atLuqa,Ta' Qali, andHal Far, plus satellite fields atSafi,Qrendi and on Malta's second island ofGozo.
No. 1435 (Night Fighter) Flight was first formed at Malta as a night fighter unit on 4 December 1941, by re-naming the Malta Night Fighter Unit.[1] In July 1942, personnel from603 Squadron were equipped with theSpitfire V to form the unit.[2] After a brief period as 1435 (Fighter) Flight, at Luqa, due to its size it was raised to 1435 Squadron RAF on 2 August 1942 still at Luqa.[3][4]
RAFWeb writes that the original Malta "photographic reconnaissance unit was69 Squadron."[2] "B" Flight, 69 Squadron RAF was formed into683 Squadron on 8 February 1943. The squadron flew Spitfire Mark IVs, Mark XIs and later Mark XIXs. Just over eight months later, in November 1943, 683 Squadron moved to Tunisia.
After the war, Luqa remained an important RAF base, serving during theSuez Crisis of 1956, but also as Malta's main civilianairport.37 Squadron, which had arrived from Palestine in 1948, left Luqa forRAF Khormaksar in Aden in July 1957. While fourAvro Shackleton aircraft and the squadron's identity were transferred to Aden, two aircraft were left to join38 Squadron, still at Luqa.[5]No. 13 Squadron RAF began a long association, equipped withEnglish Electric Canberra, moving to Malta in 1965 and remained in Malta until transferring toRAF Wyton in 1978.
203 Squadron disbanded on 31 December 1977 at Luqa, by which time it was part of18 Group inRAF Strike Command.[6] It had been flyingBAe Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft.
The RAF left in 1979 following a British government decision not to renew the lease on the station from the Maltese. The payments demanded for a lease extension were several times higher than the payments under the previous lease. A120 Squadron Nimrod made the last flight out of Luqa on the morning of 1 April 1979.[7]
Nowadays, the location has been developed as the main entry point for air traffic into the modern, independent country of Malta, under the nameMalta International Airport. It is sometimes still referred to as "Luqa Airport" or "Valletta Airport".
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