RAF Brize Norton: the gateway to Afghanistan

Nearly 200,000 military and civilian personnel passed through RAF Brize Norton last year, well over the population of nearby Oxford. More than 38 per cent of these were either going to or coming back from Afghanistan.

Wing Commander Simon Edwards, the Acting Station Commander, said:

"On any given day Brize Norton is trying to achieve a massive task.

"The increasing tempo of operations in Afghanistan means more and more flights going out."

So far this year more than 35,000 passengers have been transported to Afghanistan. The main route to the front line, known as the airbridge, is via Kandahar Airfield on an RAF TriStar or C-17 aircraft.

However, in a trial last year, charter jets were used for the first stage of the journey to the Gulf, to see if it would be a more efficient way of moving passengers:

"When troops get to the Gulf we take them off the charter aircraft, put them on the heavily defended military aircraft, and take them straight to wherever they are headed in theatre," said Wg Cdr Edwards.

"We now have two ways of moving large groups of passengers and have almost doubled the effort."

As with any airport, delays can and do occur. The difference between Brize and a commercial airport is the umbilical cord between the RAF station and theatre. If something happens at Bastion, such as a sudden need to evacuate wounded troops, flight priorities have to change:

"Communications could go down at any time or someone could be killed. It's a tough and unpredictable environment to work in," said Flight Lieutenant Olivia Steel, the officer in charge of passenger movements at Brize Norton.

Responding quickly to such situations has a domino effect on flight schedules. Arrival slot times at Kandahar are also crucial and can affect both departures and arrivals at Brize Norton:

"Ensuring an aircraft lands in safety in the dark in Kandahar takes priority over one that's come back here and is safely home," said Wg Cdr Edwards, explaining a common cause of delays to arrivals at the terminal.

"We know it's frustrating - these guys will have been travelling for 30 hours, they're tired and their wives and children are the other side of a set of doors," said Flt Lt Steel.

"We understand that. We see it every day and we do our best, but safety must take priority."

There are unique challenges that the commercial airlines don't have to cope with:

"Some of those can be attributed to technical faults - whether it's the age of an aircraft or the defensive aid suite, which protects it from threats on the ground," said Flt Lt Steel.

"An RAF pilot will not take a plane full of people into harm's way if it's not defended properly - we're never going to send the guys somewhere when we can't protect them."

Stories of overnight stays in the departure lounge are not uncommon and it is a tradition for battle-hardened Brize users to try to outdo each other with their experiences.

But today, luck is in for a group of soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment en route to Afghanistan, as their flight is delayed by just half-an-hour to adjust for favourable winds.

Brize Norton's passenger airbridge statistics have improved dramatically over the past 12 months - customer satisfaction has not been less than 95 per cent in any month this year, said Wg Cdr Edwards.

This is partly due to the use of charter planes, which tend to stick to the schedule as they won't be re-tasked by the military and don't carry complicated defensive systems that must be tested before they fly.

A new system for testing the defences on military aircraft while they are still on the ground has also improved reliability:

"We are seeing the results of a massive team effort behind the scenes," said Wg Cdr Edwards.

Other improvements include a new waiting area for families and friends at the main gate and better car parking facilities:

"It's going to be a lot more passenger friendly," said Flt Lt Steel.

"The last thing you want when you're being dropped off by your wife is to be searching for somewhere to park and miss out on that last hug and kiss."

These changes come as Brize Norton is set to get even busier. With RAF Lyneham shutting, Hercules and new aircraft such as the Airbus A400 and A330 will move there, meaning a jump from 29 to more than 80 aircraft, and the number of passengers passing through the airport likely to reach 250,000 per year.

Casualty evacuations

On top of a full schedule the RAF aircraft at Brize Norton regularly react to emergencies, such as bringing casualties back from the field hospital at Camp Bastion.

TriStars and C-17s are both used for aeromedical evacuations:

"We reprioritise and make it happen," said Wg Cdr Edwards.

"July and August have been incredibly busy - at least once a week we've had the requirement to go to Bastion and bring somebody back, and sometimes it has been as often as every two days."

Normally six hours are allowed for an aircraft to be turned around, but if necessary it can be done in four:

"We can pull the stops out if we have to - you do what you need to do," said Wg Cdr Edwards.

This article is taken from the October 2009 edition of Defence Focus - the magazine for everyone in Defence.