Diori Hamani International Airport (IATA: NIM, ICAO: DRRN) is an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger.[3] It is located 9 km (5.6 mi) from Niamey in the south-eastern suburbs of the city, along the Route Nationale 1, the major highway linking Niamey with the east of the nation. The airport complex also includes the major base for the Armed Forces of Niger's "Armee d'Air".
In 2019, the airport served 363,093 passengers. The air traffic control for NIM is operated by the ASECNA, which bases one of its five air traffic zones for the continent at Niamey.[4] The airport is named after Hamani Diori (1916–1989), the first President of Niger.[5]
ASECNA operates the "African School for Meteorology and Civil Aviation/Ecole Africaine de la Météorologie et de l'Aviation Civile" at the Niamey airport complex, as well as in the Plateau quarter of Niamey city centre. Founded in 1963, EAMAC trains civil aviation professionals and aviation meteorologists from across Africa.[6][7]
The Niger Air Force maintains Base Aérienne 101, which is collocated with Diori Hamani International Airport. It has been variously used by American, French, and Russian armed forces as a base for operations and training missions.[8][9][10][11][12]
In 2013, U.S. African Command spokesman Benjamin Benson confirmed that U.S. air operations conducted from Base Aérienne 101 at Diori Hamani International Airport were providing "support for intelligence collection with French forces conducting operations in Mali and with other partners in the region."[13] In July 2013, The New York Times reported that the deployment had expanded from one Predator UAV to daily flights by a detachment of two larger MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, supported by 120 U.S. Air Force personnel.[14] The MQ-9 Reapers were scheduled to be relocated to Niger Air Base 201 in 2018.[15]
Around 2013, two Ku band arrays were constructed at the airport to allow for communication with EADS Harfang UAVs.[16] The French Air and Space Force Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort operated three MQ-9 Reapers out of the base starting in January 2014 in support of Operation Barkhane.[10] France also deployed Dassault Mirage 2000D aircraft from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) to the base.[11][17] A French Operational Transport Group was also based at the airbase as of 2020, controlling Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft instead of the previous Transall C-160s.[18]
The Nigerien Air Force maintains two Cessna-208 Caravans equipped for ISTAR operations at the airport.[19][20]
In the aftermath of the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état, both France and the United States were told to withdraw their military personnel from the country. French forces departed from the airbase in December 2023.[21] In May 2024 Russian troops moved in to one of the airports' hangars while some U.S. troops were still on the same property, but not in same buildings.[22][23] On 7 July 2024, the U.S. completed withdrawal of all troops from the airbase.[24]
Diori Hamani International Airport is situated on Route Nationale 1, which connects it to the city of Niamey 9 km (5.6 mi) to the northwest, as well as to Dosso, Maradi, Zinder, Goure, Diffa, and N'guigmi to the east.
The railway track passing by the airport, which connects it to Niamey railway station and Dosso, is abandoned since its construction (and will not be operational in the near future).
The American site is near Diori Hamani International Airport and the collocated Nigerien Air Force's Base Aérienne 101.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)The base is located next to the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's capital. It isn't a secret, but both Washington and Paris are tight-lipped about its operations.
The relocation of the MQ-9 Reapers from Air Base 101 to the new facilities at Agadez has been planned since 2014.
The latest imagery from DigitalGlobe from 10OCT13 shows the two drone aprons and their support areas at the airport including their associated ku-band arrays. Note the French apron has two arrays for the Harfang as the UAV requires a low data rate link for the ground control station and a high data rate link for collected data (e.g. video, photos).
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Pilots from the French Air Forces detachment (DETAIR) are pictured next to a Mirage 2000D fighter jet at the Air Base 101, on November 23, 2014 in Niamey.
The latest commercial satellite imagery acquired by DigitalGlobe confirms the arrival of two Cessna-208 Caravan to Nigerien Air Force's Base Aérienne 101 in Niamey [...] The U.S. Embassy in Niger notes the aircraft are equipped for the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance mission.
The ceremony marks the culmination of 12 months of planning, training and execution of two projects: The transfer of two Cessna C-208 Caravans with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability to the Nigerien Air Force; and the transfer of 40 military vehicles (Land Cruisers, ambulances, and cargo trucks), 250 sets of uniforms and personal protective equipment, radios and associated spare parts to the 24th Battalion Inter-armée (BIA) of Dirkou.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link)Media related to Diori Hamani International Airport at Wikimedia Commons