Hellenikon

Hellenikon Air Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base located in Athens, Greece. After its closure, it was redeveloped into Ellinikon International Airport. The airport was built in 1938, and after the German invasion of Greece in 1941, Kalamaki Airfield was used as a Luftwaffe air base during the occupation. Following the end ofWorldWar II, the Greek government allowed the United States to use the airport from 1945 until 1993. Known as Hassani Airport in 1945, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces as early as 1 October 1945, as a base of operations for Air Transport Command flights between Rome, Italy and points in the Middle East.

A semi-permanent USAAF presence was established in May 1947. In 1954 with the end of the Marshall Plan, the 7206th Air Base Squadron (later Group) was assigned to the airport. Commercial airline service returned to the facility in 1956with the airport being turned over toGreek civil aviation authorities.The airport was renamed Athenai International Airport, and the USAF used a small part of the airport for military cargo use, along with United States diplomatic air traffic.

The 7206th Air BaseGroup remained the primaryUSAF unit at the airportwith the 6916th Security Squadron providing electronic aerial surveillance of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. The American base was renamed Hellenikon Air Base on 25 February 1976, and also provided administrative and logistical support to U.S. units and organizations in Greece, the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and parts of Africa. The United States closed its facilities in 1993.