Bandara Kuala Namu menggunakan kode KNO, digunakan juga oleh bandara Knokke/Het Zoute di Belgia?

Bandar Udara Internasional Kuala Namu sebagai bandar udara baru untuk kota Medan, Indonesia akan digunakan pada 25 Juli 2013.

Bagi anda yang sering bepergian dengan pesawat tentu pernah mendengar singkatan istilah penerbangan untuk bandara, yang merupakan singkatan versi IATA, contohnya CGK untuk bandara Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta, atau MES untuk bandara Polonia Medan. Lantas apa singkatan untuk Bandara Kuala Namu yang merupakan bandara anyar ini?

Biasanya nama ini menggunakan tiga huruf yang mudah diingat dan merepresentasikan wilayah tersebut, alternatifnya adalah KUN, atau KNU, tetapi dua singkatan ini sudah dipakai masing-masing oleh bandara Kaunas International (KUN) di Lithuania dan bandara Kanpur (KNU) di India.

Kemudian ditetapkan bahwa singkatan IATA nya adalah KNO. Namun coba anda browsing di internet, pasti belum ada (atau sedikit sekali) yang merujuk bahwa KNO merupakan bandara Kuala Namu.

contohnya situs berikut:

http://www.world-airport-codes.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code:_K

Malah anda akan ditunjukkan pada sebuah bandara di Belgia yang bernama Knokke/Het Zoute. Apa mungkin ada dua bandara yang menggunakan kode IATA yang sama?

Sepintas memang wajar kalau bandara Knokke/Het Zoute disingkat KNO, yaitu singkatan dari tiga huruf awalnya. Well, setelah menelusuri lebih lanjut, ternyata bandara Knokke/Het Zoute sudah ditutup tahun 1960 dan singkatan tersebut dapat dipakai atau digunakan kembali oleh bandara lain (recycle). Penjelasan didapat dari artikel berikut:

http://www.ronaldv.nl/abandoned/airfields/BE/Airfields_BE_wflanders.html#B-83

Knokke-'t Zwin (B-83)

51°21'20"N003°21'00"E
Runway 12/30 - 3600feet - SMT Runway 18/36 - 4500feet - SMT
Airfield Knokke-'t Zwin (also known as Knokke-Le Zoute or ALG B-83) was an airfield officially opened in 1929 between Knokke and the "t Zwin" nature area.
By the late 1930s it was used regularly by the Belgian Air Force.
Early May 1940 it was home to 6e Escadrille (Squadron) of 3rd Group flying Fairy Foxes tasked with firing exercises over the North Sea.
On 10 May 1940 the squadron was ordered to Vissenaeken, leaving behind two unserviceable Fairy Foxes.
At 5 am that day the airfield was attacked by German bombers.
When it was attacked again two days later the Belgian military command ordered the field to be destroyed, which occurred on 18 May. Several weeks later the Germans ordered local farmers to fill the holes in the field, so they could use it to hold firing training for FLAK units. 6 hangars were built also, but they were never used. In 1942 the airfield was attacked by RAF Typhoons, killling 5 belgian civilians.
Early in 1944 the Germans ordered the airfield destroyed by digging trenches and mining it.
In the middle of October the area was liberated by the Canadian Army. British engineers tasked with repairing the site reported in late november: "Repair of the airfield (B83) has begun by filling the trenches and demining. Demining task is enormous, as 5000 mines have been fout to date."
In total the British engineers found 12.000 mines at the site. The airfield got two SMT runways, and construction was finally complete by march 1945.
After the war the aifield quickly returned to it's pre-war civilian role. It was closed by 1960 however, all constructions on the site were demolished. The area now has an agricultural destination.

Berikut gambar bandara Knokke



Demikian, semoga bermanfaat.