Did you know Lajes, on the Azorean island of Terceira, began as a compacted-earth runway in 1934?

Construction of a compacted-earth runway on the Lajes plain, on the Azorean island of Terceira, began in 1934, according to the history of Air Base No. 4 published by the Portuguese Air Force. It followed years of efforts to bring aviation to the archipelago: the first Portuguese air link between Lisbon and the Azores took place in 1926, and in 1928 Lieutenant-Colonel Cifka Duarte was tasked with studying whether an airport could be built on one of the islands.

The site’s role grew during the Second World War. In 1941 the Portuguese government sent an expeditionary corps to the Azores, and on 4 August 1942 the air forces stationed there became Air Base No. 4. British Group 247 arrived on Terceira on 8 October 1943 and stayed until June 1946. United States forces arrived in February 1944, moved their detachment to the island of Santa Maria in early 1945, and in 1946 a US detachment moved permanently to Air Base No. 4.

The base remains operational. The Air Force lists Azores air detachments created between 2006 and 2010 with EH-101 Merlin, C212 and C295M aircraft, and the reactivation of Squadron 752 in 2023.

Lajes is a military air base, so passengers flying to Terceira should rely on their airline and the civil airport operator for practical information about flights and terminals, and treat the Air Force page as a historical reference.