RAF Santa Cruz


Royal Air Force Santa Cruz or more simply Santa Cruz is a former Royal Air Force station in Bombay, then British India which saw extensive use in the Second World War.

History

The Airfield was constructed in the 1930s when the nearby Juhu Aerodrome, located close by, could not cope with the fighters, bombers and other large transport planes of the Air Force, that required longer and stronger runways. Santa Cruz Airfield covered an area of about 1,500 acres. It had three runways originally and built as a standard Class A airfield, the main feature of which was a set of three intersecting concrete runways placed in a triangular pattern. The technical area and apron were located to the south between 09/27 and 14/32 and connected to a wide perimeter track. After the end of the War, the airport was handed over to the Director General of Civil Aviation for Civil operations and continues civilian operations.

Squadrons

Numerous Fighter Squadrons and support units were stationed at Santa Cruz from 1942 to 1947.
UnitDatesAircraftVariantNotes
No. 159 Squadron RAFOctober 1945 - June 1946Consolidated LiberatorVIIIDetachment from RAF Salbani, West Bengal
No. 203 Squadron RAF15 November 1943 - 9 October 1944Vickers Wellington
No. 217 Squadron RAFApril 1943 - April 1944Bristol BeaufortIDetachment from RAF Vavuniya
No. 244 Squadron RAFMarch 1944 and May 1945WellingtonXIIIDetachment from RAF Masirah

Current use

It is now part of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.