RAFO Masirah (RAF Masirah)

RAFO Masirah is an Omani military airfield located on Masirah Island. Originally established by the British Royal Air Force in 1943 following initial surveys in the early 1930s, the facility functioned as a staging post and refuelling point on the route between Aden and Iraq. During the Second World War, the station supported anti-submarine warfare patrols and Air Sea Rescue units, hosting detachments of Catalina, Warwick, and other maritime patrol aircraft. Initial logistical support relied on a narrow-gauge railway constructed to transport cargo from offshore supply vessels to the base.

Following the Second World War, the airfield served as a staging post for prisoner-of-war repatriation flights. During the 1950s, RAF Shackleton aircraft operated from the base during the Jebel Akhdar War. Under a 1958 agreement with the Sultan of Oman, the site was utilized to train the newly established Royal Omani Air Force. Infrastructure expansion in 1962 permitted operations by V-bombers and Canberra detachments. The base continued to function as a regional staging post through the 1960s and 1970s, supporting aircraft movements and assisting in the December 1971 evacuation of civilians from Karachi using Hercules and VC-10 transport aircraft.

The RAF formally vacated the site in March 1977, transferring the airfield to Oman. It was the last permanently staffed RAF station in the Gulf region dating from the Second World War era. The installation is operated by the Royal Air Force of Oman and features asphalt-paved runways.