Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase () is a Libyan Air Force (, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) base, located about 16 km south of Tobruk.
Before World War II, it had been an Italian Air Force airfield. A number of the former Italian buildings were seen remaining in 2003, during a courtesy visit by former RAF personnel, at which time no military aircraft were evident.
Prior to 31 March 1970, the airfield was known as Royal Air Force Station El Adem ( after the nearby settlement al Adm), and used by the RAF primarily as a staging post. This was for RAF and civil aircraft transiting from bases in Europe to others further East.
The airfield saw heavy use during the Western Desert Campaign of 1941âÂÂ42. No. 211 Group RAF made its headquarters at the airfield for several months.
The airfield was largely reconstructed in 1942 by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and brought into operational use again on 12 December 1942. It was used during World War II by the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during the North African Campaign against German and Italian forces.
RAF units which used the airfield were:
USAAF Ninth Air Force units which used the airfield were:
Royal Air Force Station El Adem was the fuel stop for the BOAC aircraft carrying the new Queen Elizabeth II on her flight from Entebbe to London on 7 February 1952.
During the first half of 1960, a high-speed low-altitude flying effects evaluation flight, the Swifter Flight, was established at the station. Mainly flying the English Electric Canberra, the flight provided data for use in the TSR.2 programme as well as more general data about such flight profiles. The aircraft had to be specially strengthened.
No. 1564 (Helicopter) Flight was re-formed at El Adem on 14 August 1963, flying Bristol Sycamores and Westland Whirlwinds, from an element of 103 Squadron, disbanding on 31 December 1966 at El Adem. It was re-formed at El Adem again on 1 May 1969, from 'D' Flight of 202 Squadron, only to be disbanded again on 31 March 1970 on Cyprus.
As a group captain, RAF officer Peter Terry was station commander of El Adem, from 1969 to 1970. He was there in September 1969 when Colonel Gaddafi overthrew King Idris of Libya in a coup. Terry oversaw withdrawal of British troops from El Adem and Tobruk in March 1970. He went on to achieve the rank of air chief marshal.
In 1994, the remaining wreckage of Lady Be Good, a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber that crashed-landed deep in the Libyan desert during WWII in 1943, was brought to the air base by a local Libyan team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohammed (tasked with recovering the plane wreck) for storage and safekeeping. The remnants of the aircraft still remain there.
Units present 1950s:
The airbase is named after the Egyptian revolutionary Gamal Abdel Nasser, who served as President of Egypt. In 2013, the airport was officially reopened as Tobruk International Airport, with flights to Alexandria, Egypt.