Bilbays Air Base

Bilbays Air Base
قاعدة بلبيس الجوية
Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate in Egypt
Bilbays Air Base Shown within Egypt
Coordinates	30°23′42″N 031°36′05″E
Type	Air Base
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defense (Egypt)
Operator	Egyptian Air Force
Site history
Built	1985 (1985)
In use	1985 - present
Airfield information
Elevation	27 metres (89 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22 3,470 metres (11,385 ft) Asphalt 09L/27R 1,475 metres (4,839 ft) Asphalt 09R/27L 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Asphalt 17L/35R 2,975 metres (9,760 ft) Asphalt 17R/35L 1,515 metres (4,970 ft) Asphalt

Bilbays Air Base is an Egyptian Air Force airbase located near Bilbeis, Sharqia Governorate, Egypt. It was formerly RAF Bilbeis, a Royal Air Force station operational during the Second World War.

The air base is home to the Egyptian Air Academy that operates No. 3 & 5 Squadrons which flies the Grob G 115EG as part of 101 Air Brigade, along with No. 28 and 29 Squadrons which flies the Hongdu K-8E as part of the 201 Air Wing and No. 54 Squadron which flies the Aérospatiale SA342L Gazelle as part of 301 Air Wing.[1]

Former RAF units

• Detachment from No. 31 Squadron RAF between September 1941 and February 1942 with the Douglas DC-2[2]
• No. 117 Squadron RAF between 3 November 1941 and 5 July 1943 with the de Havilland DH.86 Express, Lockheed Hudson VI, Lockheed Lodestar and the Douglas DC-3[3]
• No. 162 Squadron RAF between January 1942 and 4 April 1943 with the Vickers Wellington IC, Bristol Blenheim IV & V[4]
• No. 267 Squadron RAF between 18 August 1942 and 9 January 1943 with the Lodestar, Messerschmitt Bf 109F, Hudson IV & VI and the DC-3[5]

See also

• List of North African airfields during World War II

References

1. "Egypt - Air Force - Bilbays / Belbes". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
2. Jefford 1988, p. 35.
3. Jefford 1988, p. 57.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 64.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 81.

• Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.