 The airport is in the Sahara Desert, about 540 km southeast of Algiers.The Ourgla (OUR) VOR-DME and Ourgla (OU) Non-directional beacon navigational aids are north of and aligned with the runways.During World War II the airport was known as Sedrata Airfield, and was used by the United States Twelfth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in 1942–1943.