Khwaja Rawash Airport beter bekend als (Luchthaven) Kandahar International (IATA KDH) ligt op ongeveer 16 km Zuid-oost van  Kandahar in Zuid-Afghanistan. De luchthaven is door de Amerikanen gebouwd in de jaren 60 en in de periode 1970-1979 aangepast tot haar huidige vorm. Door de internationale sancties onder het Taliban-bewind was het vliegveld vrijwel helemaal gesloten en waren er slechts paar internationale vluchten. Nadat de Verenigde Staten de aanval op Afghanistan inzetten na 11 september 2001, is het vliegveld weer geopend. Eerst was het alleen toegankelijk voor militaire toestellen, maar nadat begin 2002 de sancties van de Verenigde Naties waren opgeheven konden ook civiele luchtvaartmaatschappijen weer van het vliegveld gebruik maken. Belgische militairen verzorgen sedert 2003 de bewaking van het vliegveld en US militairen zorgen voor de luchtverkeersleiding.

Kandahar International Airport (more commonly known as Kandahar Airport (IATA KDH)  and local  as Khwaja Rawash Airport) is located 10 miles south-east of Kandahar City in South Afghanistan. The airport was built by the US in the 1960's as International Development program. It may have been intended to be used as a possible US military base in case the United States and former USSR went to war. It was occupied by the Soviets in 1979 and was severely damaged during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 80s. It received further damages again during the US raids in October 2001 when the Taliban government was being removed. As of 2007, Kandahar Airport has been rebuilt and is used for both military and civilian flights. Since 2006 the airfield has been maintained by the Canadians, but there are also other NATO forces present. It is sometimes difficult to locate the airport from the sky during day-time because of lack of contrast with the ground and the usual dust or haze in the area but during night time the runway is well lit up.

The airfield itself was built between 1956 and 1962 by American in the typical U.S. architecture of that time.  It's original purpose was as a refueling stop for long-range piston engined aircraft traveling between the Middle East and Southeast Asia. However, with the advent of jet aircraft, such stops were no longer necessary, and the airport saw little use. Since the airport was designed as a military base, it is more likely that the United States intended to use it as such in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR. While the United States was busy building Kandahar Airport, the USSR was busy in the north building Kabul Airport.

Soviet era:       During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the airfield was used intensively by the Soviet Air Forces, both as logistical facility for flying in troops and supplies and as a base for launching airstrikes against local Mujahideen groups.  Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense. However Kandahar airport was left relatively untouched and its main building was largely intact at the end of the war. The airstrip did suffer extensive damage that was subsequently repaired by the United Nations in in the mid 1990s to support humanitarian flights.

Taliban era:    The airport was mostly used at this time for military and humanitarian purposes, hosting regular flights of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to and from Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat and Peshawar (Pakistan). Ariana airlines (the Afghan national carrier) also flew infrequent flights out of Kandahar to Pakistan and a few locations in Afghanistan (Herat, Kabul, Jalalabad).

The airport came into the public eye during the tense drama that was played out when terrorists, who hijacked and landed Indian Airlines Flight 814 on the airfield in December 1999, ordered the Indian Government to ensure the release and safe-passage of three alleged terrorists in return for letting the occupants of the passenger plane leave without harm. Although the exact nature of the deal that was struck between the Indian Government and the hijacking group is not known at this point, it did secure the release of the 3 prisoners who were being held in a prison in India.

                                                                                     

                                            Kandahar ISAF Compound                                                         Kandahar Airfield

Operation Enduring Freedom:      US Marines landed at Kandahar in late 2001 and took over control of the airport. It was occupied and maintained by the Military of the US since then. As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy also has based a squadron of Harrier GR7A aircraft at Kandahar Airfield to provide close air support to coalition ground forces. The RAF also has based a  detach- ment of C130 K and J's Hercules transport aircraft and Engineering detachment from RAF Lyneham.  Eight F-16 close air support fighters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) were deployed to Kandahar Airfield to support the expanded NATO operation in southern Afghanistan in late 2006.The government of Afghanistan has been slow in rebuilding the facility, the vast majority of it has been reclaimed from years of neglect and damage by Soviet and Taliban soldiers. The interior gardens, pools, kitchen galley, restroom facility, and ticketing areas have been restored. With the transition of the US passenger area terminal to the Afghans in 2005, the airport is currently used for civilian flights and it was used for the 2006 Hajj by Muslim pilgrims.

                                                    

 Night, Sunrise and Sunset at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan         

With the closure of Camp Julien in Kabul on 29th November 2005, most of the Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan were transferred to Kandahar province in the southern part of the country. At the same time, Canada also fielded a battle group and deployed a new rotation for the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar.

Since 2007, the airport is maintained by the United Nations under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) banner, although a prominent base for the US, Canadian Forces and many other Armed Forces. British Forces and Netherland Forces use Kandahar as their main staging post for the South and fly direct into the Helmand province. Fast jets and combat helicopters are also deployed here at this 'Super Bizzy Airport'  in the troubled south-east of the country.  The mission of TFA was to improve the security situation in the southern areas and play a key role in the transition from the U.S.-led multinational coalition to NATO leadership.*

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