Photos: Sharjah&rsquo s airport, Abu Dhabi&rsquo s abandoned airstrip from the 1930s – MENAFN.COM

Photos: Sharjah&rsquo s airport, Abu Dhabi&rsquo s abandoned airstrip from the 1930s – MENAFN.COM

A lot has been talked about the region's first airport established by the British in 1932 in Sharjah, which catered to airliners on the western Gulf air-route to India. However, an airstrip existed on Abu Dhabi's Sir Bani Yas Island since 1930, which also served planes on the route between Britain, India and Australia, has not gained much attention of history enthusiasts for the obvious reason “” it was mainly meant for military aircraft, not civilian flights, according to historians and documents accessed by Emirates News Agency (WAM) from the UAE's National Archives. Sharjah airport and fuel tank in Abu Dhabi in 1932 An administration report for the Trucial Coast for the year 1932 says, "The chief event of the year was the securing of the Airport at Shargah (Sharjah) from the Shaikh (sic) of that place in July." The report added that a fuel tank was established at Sir Bani Yas Island belonging to the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi in the same year. Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, along with neighbouring emirates, were then part of the Trucial States, which was a collection of various sheikhdoms that allied themselves to the British through a number of treaties, until the formation