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Europe · from 1943

Lajes Field

Portuguese Air Force base in the Azores.

History

Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base (pronounced [ˈlaʒɨʃ]; Portuguese: Base Aérea das Lajes), officially designated Air Base No. 4 (Base Aérea n.º 4, BA4) (IATA: TER, ICAO: LPLA), is a multi-use airfield near Lajes and 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal. Located about 3,680 km (2,290 mi) east of New York City and about 1,600 km (990 mi) west of Lisbon, Portugal, the base sits in a strategic location midway between North America and Europe in the north Atlantic Ocean.

It is home to the Portuguese Air Force Base Aérea n.º 4 and Azores Air Zone Command (Portuguese: Comando da Zona Aérea dos Açores), a United States Air Force detachment unit (operated by the 65th Air Base Group of United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa), and a regional air passenger terminal.

Text from Wikipedia: Lajes Field, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

  1. 1934
    In 1934, the Achada airfield was condemned due to its inadequate dimensions and adverse weather conditions, resulting in the construction of a landing strip of packed earth and a small group of support facilities by the Portuguese military at Lajes.
  2. 1943
    On 1 December 1943, British and U.S. military representatives at RAF Lajes Field signed a joint agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and United States Navy (USN) at Lajes Field.
  3. 1946
    The United States and the United Kingdom transferred control of Lajes back to Portugal in 1946.
  4. 1953
    In 1953, Admiral Lynde D. McCormick, the Commander-in-Chief, United States Atlantic Command organized a subordinate unified command in the Azores called U.S. Forces Azores (USFORAZ).
  5. 1956
    On October 10, 1956, a United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster transport on a Military Air Transport Service flight disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean during a flight from RAF Lakenheath, England, to Lajes Field with the loss of all 59 people on board.
  6. 1980
    In 1980, a detachment of Attack Squadron 301 (Esquadra 301) - equipped with Fiat G.91 fighter-bombers - starts to be based at Lajes, this being augmented and becoming the Attack Squadron 303 "Jaguars" (Esquadra 302, "Jaguares") in 1981.
  7. 1998
    On February 4, 1998, an Antonov 12BP operated by Air Luxor crashed on takeoff when the number three engine shut down and feathered.
  8. 2009
    In 2009 Lajes provided rescue support of shipping lanes across the Atlantic, a safe haven for medical or mechanical emergency situations in aircraft crossing the Atlantic, and support for the USAF's continuing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  9. 2026
    Lajes Air Base was used by the United States Armed Forces as a logistical support point during military operations against Iran in 2026.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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