Air Force and Army engineers have shepherded a new runway project for Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan for about two years, formally opening the $68 million project Dec. 20. The old Russian-built runway required daily repair and simply was not up to the high volume of traffic seen at this central Afghan hub. Coalition and Afghan officials opened the new runway, built by an Egyptian company using workers from Egypt and Afghanistan. It’s longer and thicker to accommodate even the behemoth C-5 airlifter and jumbo jets.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
