Built in 1937, the airfield was used by the French Army prior to the
Second World War.
German use during the Second World War Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the
Battle of France, Cormeilles-en-Vexin was used as a
Luftwaffe military airfield during the
Occupation of France. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV): • Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) June 1940-7 June 1941
Dornier Do 17Z;
Junkers Ju 88A • Kampfgeschwader 53 (KG 53) 22 November-30 December 1942
Heinkel He 111 • Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6) 6 December 1942-September 1943
Junkers Ju 88A • Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) 27 November 1943 – 7 June 1944
Focke-Wulf Fw 190A • Kampfgeschwader 66 (KG 66) February–June 1944
Junkers Ju 188 KG 76 participated in the
Battle of Britain; KG 53 and KG 6 performed night bombing raids over England; KG 6 was a day interceptor unit against Eighth Air Force bombing raids; KG 66 flew raids over Allied shipping around England. The Luftwaffe also constructed two concrete, all weather runways, both of which are still in use today. Largely due to its use as a base for Fw 190 interceptors, Cormeilles was attacked by USAAF
Ninth Air Force Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers and
Republic P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound general-purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when
Eighth Air Force heavy bombers (
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresss,
Consolidated B-24 Liberators) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the
North American P-51 Mustang fighter-escort groups of
Eighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.
American use It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 6 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the
United States Army Air Forces IX Engineer Command 818th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Due to the Allied air attacks on the base, a significant amount of battle damage was sustained, which needed to be repaired to put the base back into operational use. The airport became a USAAF
Ninth Air Force combat airfield, designated as "A-59" about a week later, on 15 September. It was also known as "Cormeilles-En-Vexin
Advanced Landing Ground". Under American control, the
Ninth Air Force assigned the
344th Bombardment Group, flying
Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers to the airfield on 30 September 1944, remaining at the base until 9 April 1945. The
410th Bombardment Group replaced the 344th with
A-26 Invader medium bombers in May, remaining until June when they were withdrawn. The Americans returned full control of the airport to French authorities on 17 July 1945. A memorial to the American use of the airport has been erected near the control tower.
Modern After the war, the airport was refurbished and reopened for public use in August 1946. Since 21 April 1949, the airport has been managed by
Aéroports de Paris. An aircraft parking ramp on the southeast side of the airfield, along with several new hangars and support infrastructure, which appear to be used by the government or the military, are separate from the civil airport. Noise measurement trials related to a typical electric-powered short range craft were underway in Spring 2022 in preparation for a tentative network to be provided during the Paris Olympiad of 2024. Volocopter first flew its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) rotary drone at the Paris Air Forum held in June 2021. ==Facilities==