F-35 Draken plane at the entrance to Karup Air Base.
Data[]
| Category. | Statistic. |
|---|---|
| Location. | Denmark. |
| Opened in. | 1940 under the name "Einsatzhafen Grove" (later Flieger-Horst Grove). Reopen as Karup Airport (Danish: Karup Lufthavn) 1965. |
| Closed in. | Still open as Karup Airport (Danish: Karup Lufthavn). |
| Operated by. | 1940: Luftwaffe, May 1945: Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), December 1945: Danish Civil Air Defence, 1947: the Danish Army Air Corps, 1949: Royal Danish Army in January, 1950: Royal Danish Air Force, 1965: Karup Lufthavn a.m.b.a., by 2012: Cimber Sterling, 2012: Norwegian Air Shuttle and 2015: Danish Air Transport. |
| Owned by. | 1940: Luftwaffe, May 1945: British MoD, December 1945: Danish MoD and 1965: Karup Lufthavn a.m.b.a. and Recently: Karup Lufthavn a.m.b.a. |
| Outside link. | http://10times.com/venues/karup-air-base, https://skyvector.com/airport/EKKA/Karup-Air-Base-Airport, http://military.wikia.com/wiki/Air_Base_Karup, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Base_Karup, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karup_Airport and https://www.wunderground.com/dk/karup-air-base. |
Overview[]
Air Base Karup is the main air base of the Royal Danish Air Force. It is situated 3 km west of Karup in mid-Jutland.
The air base covers 3,000 hectares of land of which only a third is inside the operational area marked by a 17 km long fence.
Karup Airport (Danish: Karup Lufthavn) is an airport in Denmark. The airport carries passengers primarily from the nine owning municipalities in mid and west Jutland.
History[]
Military history[]
The air base was constructed during the German Occupation in 1940 under the name "Einsatzhafen Grove" (later Flieger-Horst Grove) to facilitate offensive operations against England. Later in the war, it became a base for defensive fighter planes.
Following the British advance into Denmark in May 1945, during which the airfield was surrendered to Captain Eric Brown RN, of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), a group of nine Ar 234B reconnaissance bombers were found at the base and subsequently transferred by Brown and his colleagues to Farnborough. By December 1945 the air base was taken over by the Danish Civil Air Defence, using it as a refugee camp for 22,000 German refugees.
Control over the area was transferred to the Royal Danish Army in January 1946, continuing the use as refugee camp until 1949. In 1947 the Danish Army Air Corps established a flying school, maintenance centre and logistics office at Karup, preparing for Meteor, Oxford and Spitfire fighter planes. When the Royal Danish Air Force was established in 1950 the area was named Air Base Karup.
During the post-war years Karup Air Base became a central part of Denmark's NATO defence plan and played a major role in the establishment of the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF). In 1955 the Tactical Air Command were placed at Karup.
Several American produced planes were stationed at the base in the 1950s and 1960s, among them T-33, F-84, RF-84F and F-100. In 1970 the Royal Danish Air Force purchased two squadrons of Swedish Draken strike fighters and stationed them at Karup.
During the 1980s and 1990s several smaller units in the Royal Danish Air Force moved from Værløse Air Base near Copenhagen and Vandel Air Base in southern Jutland to Karup Air Base. In 1993 the Army Operational Command were placed at the air base.
Their were also the American airbases at Arboug, Athurst and Karup during the cold war. Karup was occupied by a small British army unit before the Americans came. 22,000 German refugees lived at the site between 1945 and 1949.
Civilian history[]
The airport is based on a military airfield (Air Base Karup) constructed during the German occupation in 1940, 3 km. west of Karup. After the war, the Royal Danish Air Force took control of the field which is still its main base.
At the request of some middle-and West Jutland politicians airport, it was opened on 1 November 1965 when the first direct connection between Karup and Copenhagen was opened. In 1968 the airport's first terminal was built. Until then, it had rented premises at the airbase.
Airport ownership consisted of Viborg and Ringkjøbing county council districts and the municipalities of Herning, Holstebro, Viborg, Skive, Ikast, Karup, Struer, Ringkøbing, Lemvig and Skjern. It was agreed that Det Danske Luftfartsselskab - later SAS - would start flying on the route in exchange for a subsidy by the owners. In the beginning there was a single daily departure with a 15-passenger Heron airplane. The route was a success and there was no need for the subsidy. On the contrary, the airport's ongoing development was paid for with the operating income and no additional public support aside from the owners' initial deposits.
In 1991 the present terminal, Glass House on the Heath designed by Architect Firm Torsten Riis Andersen, was inaugurated.
Lemvig and Skjern municipality sold their shares to Karup council (now Viborg council) in 2002. As of 1st. January 2007 the owners are Herning, Holstebro, Ikast-Brande, Lemvig, Ringkobing-Skjern, Silkeborg, Skive, Struer and Viborg municipalities.
In 2010 approximately 350.000 passengers used the airport.
Karup lost scheduled flights when Cimber Sterling, the only operator at the airport, declared bankruptcy and cancelled all flights on 3 May 2012. Only hours after Norwegian Air Shuttle announced 4 daily flights to the Danish capital of Copenhagen on an all-year basis, operated by a Boeing 737-800. This was eventually replaced by an ATR 72 operated by Danish Air Transport, who became the only operator on the route after Norwegian Air Shuttle ended its route on 27 March 2015.
Karup Airport is home of several wings of the Royal Danish Air Force, including the helicopter wings, the flying school, the air control wing and several fighter wings.