The Trabzon airfield in 2023.
Trabzon Air Base, formerly known as Trabzon Airport, is the only air hub in the Second Empire of Trabzon. It previously served as the city of Trabzon's commercial airport, and numerous proposals have been made to utilize it for commercial purposes again.
History[]
The Trabzon Airport opened to traffic on 21 June 1957, and was funded by a NATO infrastructure program intended to construct 22 new airfields across the Republic of Turkey to be used for fuel storage and military purposes as needed, although they could also be utilized for commercial passenger flights and freight at the Turkish government's discretion. While the history of the airport in the pre-Doomsday era is quite obscure, it is known that the airport did not accommodate international passenger flights. It is unknown if the airport was used for domestic passenger flights, or solely for freight and military purposes.
In the immediate aftermath of Doomsday, the Trabzon airport played an instrumental role in the air war that broke out between NATO and the Soviet Union. The facility saw an immense amount of military traffic during this time, as a number of NATO cargo and combat aircraft were either evacuated there or forced to land there for repairs after carrying out raids in Soviet airspace, and the airport's strategic fuel storage facilities were used for the war effort as well.
The airport was the scene of tense standoff between the Turkish Third Army's mutinous 11th Corps - led by General Altan Sahin - and the Turkish Air Force on November 3, 1983. The 11th Corps had mutinied against the Turkish general staff and withdrawn from the Soviet border to its old base facilities in Trabzon. The mutineers subsequently seized control of the city and threatened to fire on Turkish Air Force and NATO traffic unless the airport was surrendered. Outnumbered and outgunned, the air force personnel surrendered the following morning.
Subsequently, the Trabzon Airport was not reopened to commercial traffic. Its wartime status as a military airfield was extended indefinitely. Now known simply as Trabzon Air Base, the airstrip, hangers, and terminal were used by the fledgling Trabzon Air Corps, which consisted of several F-86 Sabre fighters and a motley collection of transporters seized from the Turkish Air Force, along with individually defecting pilots. The airstrip was used for Trabzonian military traffic during the 1999 Patnosi-Trabzon War. The Trabzon Air Corps effectively ceased to exist after this conflict, as all its remaining aircraft were grounded due to lack of spare parts, lack of fuel, erratic maintenance, and airframe fatigue.
From 2000 to 2023, the airport was unused aside from the terminal and control tower, which continued to be garrisoned by a small force of air defense troops. Their presence was maintained as safeguard against the possible targeting of the airstrip by hostile airborne forces. Both of Trabzon's chief military rivals - the Sultanate of Turkey and Republic of Greater Patnos - were known to possess limited airlift capabilities, so this was considered a very real threat. The airstrip itself fell into increasing disrepair and was used by civilians for car races; as long as the public did not encroach on the terminal and tower the army personnel left them alone.
On March 13, 2023, the airport played a key role in preventing a coup d'état launched by General Ali Ulutaş against Sahin, who had withdrawn from public affairs amid rumors of ill health. Members of a private military firm, Scimitar International, landed at the airfield by helicopter and used it as a staging area to launch a counter-coup on behalf of the loyalists.
At some point in December 2023, the Trabzon Air Corps was reformed with at least 3 Antonov AN-2s, prop aircraft modified for limited strike and counter-insurgency operations. Scimitar was awarded a contract to train pilots as well as air defense troops at Trabzon Air Base.
Trabzon's acting head of state, General Cengiz Akyüz, stated in May 2024 that he was prepared to transform the air base at least partly into a commercial civilian hub. Akyüz claimed that the chief obstacle would be negotiating air corridors with the Sultanate of Turkey, and ensuring that commercial flights transiting to Trabzon were not threatened by having to navigate the "militarized" airspace of Trabzon's hostile neighbors.
See also[]
| ||||||||||||||
