Nha Trang Air Base

Nha Trang Air Base is a Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) (Khong Quan Nhan Dan Viet Nam) military airfield in Vietnam. It is located northwest of Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province.

The airfield was opened in 1949 by the Colonial French government of Indochina as Base Aerienne 194 (BA 194). By mid-1951 Nha Trang was the center for the Air Force Military Training School for Vietnamese pilots. In November 1955, it became the South Vietnamese Air Force military academy. (Tactical Base No. 1 "Chiến thuật cơ bản số 1"). The United States Air Force used the base during the Vietnam War as a special operations base in the late 1960s, and it was a tactical base of the SVNAF.

It was seized by the Vietnam People's Army in April 1975 and afterwards was used as a military airfield by the Vietnam People's Air Force and later, as a civil airport. Today the facility is closed with all civil airline traffic being routed to the new facility at Cam Ranh Airport.

History

Nha Trang Air Base was built by the French in 1949. It was then known as Base Aerienne 194 (BA 194). By mid-1951 Nha Trang was the center for the Air Force Military Training School, and graduated the first 15 student pilot class in March 1952. Before this time, early pilot training for Vietnamese personnel was conducted in French flying schools in France, Algeria, and Morocco.

In 1951, the first table of organization of the Vietnamese Armée de l'Air (VALA) (Air Department) listed Ton Son Nhut and Nha Trang...
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