Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Decimomannu Air Base (LIED) is a major Italian Air Force installation on Sardinia, some 5 nautical miles north of the town of Decimomannu and northwest of Cagliari. For decades it has been one of NATO's busiest fighter training fields, hosting dissimilar air combat training and, since 2022, the International Flight Training School, making it a striking if restricted destination for the simulator pilot interested in military aviation.
Decimomannu is a large military airfield on the island of Sardinia, operated by the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) and named after Colonel Giovanni Farina, a decorated pilot killed in action over Sardinia in 1942. It sits in open country between the towns of Decimomannu, Decimoputzu, San Sperate and Villasor, and has long been a front-line NATO facility for Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT), drawing fighter types from numerous allied air forces. For a simulator pilot it is notable both for its wartime pedigree and for its long career as one of Europe's busiest fast-jet training bases, plus its more recent role hosting the International Flight Training School from July 2022.
The airfield lies northwest of Cagliari, in a broad area bounded by the towns of Decimomannu, Decimoputzu, San Sperate and Villasor, close to the SS196 road. As an active military air base it sits within airspace associated with fighter training operations, and Cagliari Approach handles traffic in the wider area. Cagliari-Elmas airport lies to the southeast, and the other major Sardinian airport, Alghero, is roughly 160 nautical miles away.
Decimomannu has two parallel hard-surfaced runways, both lit. The primary pair, 17L/35R, is 8,816 feet long, while the secondary pair, 17R/35L, is 8,581 feet long. Both runways run in a near north-south orientation. There is no ILS at the field.
Traffic in the area is handled by Cagliari Approach on 118.75 MHz. Ground movements at Decimomannu are on 27.917 MHz, with the tower frequency on 122.1 MHz.
The runway complex runs almost north-south, with all aprons situated on the western side between the runway and the SS196 road; a helicopter apron lies to the northwest and a large freighter apron to the southwest. The main entrance to the base is on the SS196, where a preserved Starfighter is displayed near the gate, making it a useful ground landmark. When driving through Decimomannu towards Villasor on the SS196, the airfield appears on the right-hand side.
Decimomannu became a military airfield on 3 June 1940 with the transfer of the Italian 32nd Wing from Cagliari-Elmas, and between 1941 and 1943 it was home to the 36th Wing flying Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and SM.84 bombers. On 27 September 1941 base forces were involved in fighting with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in the central Mediterranean, and the airfield was bombed by Anglo-American forces on 17 February 1943. Following the Armistice of Cassibile in 1943, the base passed to United States Army control and was used by USAAF Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters; the Twelfth Air Force's 320th Bombardment Group flew Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers from the field between 1 November 1943 and 21 September 1944. The American author Joseph Heller drew on events at Decimomannu in 1944 as inspiration while writing Catch-22. In April 1957 the Royal Canadian Air Force established an Air Weapons Training Installation here, and in December 1959 Italy, Canada and West Germany signed an agreement governing use of the base and its associated firing ranges. Through the later twentieth century Decimomannu became one of the busiest airfields in Europe, and between 1970 and 2000 it was reckoned to have the highest number of takeoffs and landings on the continent, averaging around 60,000 movements a year, roughly 450 a day. It became a NATO Dissimilar Air Combat Training facility from 1979, hosting an Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation range used for debriefing fighter engagements, and the German Air Force maintained a long-standing presence, the Taktisches Ausbildungskommando der Luftwaffe Italien, before withdrawing in December 2016 due to flying restrictions and rising costs.
Decimomannu remains an active Italian Air Force base and NATO training facility, with a long history of hosting fighter detachments from allied air forces for dissimilar air combat training; aircraft from the Italian Air Force alongside Greek, Turkish, Spanish and German units have all operated from here. Since July 2022 the base has also been home to the International Flight Training School. As a military installation, prior permission is required for any visit or flight, and access is not routinely available to civilian traffic.