Imam Khomeini International Airport

Coordinates: 35°24′58″N 051°09′08″E / 35.41611°N 51.15222°E / 35.41611; 51.15222
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Imam Khomeini International Airport

فرودگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Iran
OperatorImam Khomeini Airport City Company
ServesTehran metropolitan area
LocationTehran, Iran
Opened30 April 2005; 18 years ago (2005-04-30)
Hub for
AMSL
1,007 m / 3,305 ft
Coordinates35°24′58″N 051°09′08″E / 35.41611°N 51.15222°E / 35.41611; 51.15222
Websiteikac.ir
Map
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11L/29R 4,198 13,773 Asphalt, concrete
11R/29L 4,092 13,425 Asphalt
Statistics (21 March 2018–20 March 2019)
Aircraft movements47,000
Passengers7,270,000
Cargo (t)142,000

Imam Khomeini International Airport (

Mehrabad Airport
. Imam Khomeini Airport is a hub for four airlines. As of the fiscal year ending on 20 March 2019, it ranks third in terms of passenger traffic in Iran.

The airport was conceived before the

1979 revolution, as Mehrabad Airport was becoming congested. It was scheduled to open in May 2004 under the management of Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV), a Turkish-led consortium. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
shut it down soon after the first plane landed, saying that TAV did business with Iran's enemy Israel. The company stated it had no relationship with Israel. The airport reopened in April 2005 with four Iranian carriers in charge of operations. In 2019, a second terminal was completed.

History

Construction and initial opening

The Iranian government decided prior to the

Mehrabad Airport.[1] The new airport was initially called Tehran or Aryamehr International Airport, and the original designers were the American company Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton and the Iranian firm Farman-Farmayan.[1][2][3] In 1977, construction began 35 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Tehran. The revolution and war with Iraq caused delays, and work on the runway recommenced in 1989. Due to the economic impact of the war and Iran's isolation in the international community, President Akbar Rafsanjani focused on other endeavours in the early 1990s.[1] In 1995, the French firm Aéroports de Paris was selected as the primary consultant, and construction of the terminal, which Paul Andreu had redesigned, started.[1][2] By 2000, the airport had been renamed after Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[1]

The reformist administration of Mohammad Khatami signed a memorandum of understanding with Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV), a Turkish-led consortium, to operate the terminal and construct a second one.[4][5] The agreement symbolised a shift away from the viewpoint that foreign investment was a form of imperialism.[6] President Khatami inaugurated the airport on 1 February 2004 during celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the revolution.[7] The plan was for Imam Khomeini Airport to handle all international flights to Tehran.[8] The government hoped that Imam Khomeini Airport would become the largest in the Middle East, and the The Washington Post wrote that it was meant to represent Iran's "opening to the world".[1][6] The Economist Intelligence Unit commented that the Dubai airport already served as a hub in the region and that the new airport was unlikely to overcome existing barriers to tourism such as the government's rigid social rules.[8]

On 8 May 2004, an

anti-aircraft fire against the second incoming flight, which fighter jets escorted to Isfahan.[4][9] The rest of the flights were diverted to Mehrabad. In addition, TAV's staff were forced to leave the premises with their equipment, and management of the facility was granted to Iran Air.[4] The IRGC and conservatives in parliament said the consortium had done business with Israel, putting Iran's security at risk; the two nations had a hostile relationship.[10][11] TAV responded that it had not done any business with Israel.[11] According to The Washington Post, the IRGC also opposed TAV's involvement for financial reasons.[6] The debacle soured relations between Iran and Turkey.[12] After the company left, the IRGC said the airport could reopen, but the government decided not to do so until it finished investigating the closure.[4]

Second opening

Mahan Air Airbus A340s parked at Imam Khomeini Airport in 2016.

On 30 April 2005, the $350 million Imam Khomeini Airport reopened under the management of a consortium of four Iranian airlines—Caspian Airlines, Iran Aseman Airlines, Kish Air and Mahan Air.[5][11] No ceremony was held to mark the occasion due to persistent tensions. The first arrival was an Iran Air flight from Dubai.[5] In the beginning, the airport only had flights to a few Middle Eastern countries.[11] By March 2008, all international flights excluding those for the Hajj and Umrah had relocated from Mehrabad to Imam Khomeini Airport.[13]

Iran nuclear deal.[14] All three carriers suspended their flights two years later, stating that they were not financially viable.[15][16] Analysts said the main reason for the airlines' decisions was that the United States had exited the nuclear agreement and decided to reinstate sanctions on Iran.[15] In June 2019, President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated the Salaam International Terminal.[17]

Infrastructure

The airport occupies 13,400 hectares (33,000 acres) and is operated by Imam Khomeini Airport City Company, which is part of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.[5][18] It has two terminals: Terminal 1 and the Salaam International Terminal.[17] Terminal 1 is shaped like an arc whose ends merge into the desert horizon.[1] A third terminal called Iranshahr is in the planning phase.[19] There are two runways:[20]

  • 11L/29R: 4,198 by 45 metres (13,773 ft × 148 ft)
  • 11R/29L: 4,092 by 45 metres (13,425 ft × 148 ft)

The first 450 metres (1,480 ft) of 11L/29R are made of concrete, the rest of asphalt. 11R/29L is entirely made of asphalt.[20] An instrument landing system was installed in August 2009. Imam Khomeini Airport was the first in Iran to have one.[21]

In 2015, French corporation

AccorHotels opened a Novotel and an Ibis hotel on the airport premises, marking the entry of the first international hotel chain into the Iranian market since the 1979 revolution. The company was motivated by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.[22][23] Rexan International Airport Hotels has since taken over management of the hotels and renamed them Rexan and Remis, respectively.[24]

Airlines and destinations

Most of the airlines that fly into Imam Khomeini Airport are based in Turkey and the Middle East. The airport is served by two Western airlines,

Mehrabad Airport caters to domestic traffic.[27] There are flights to several cities in the Middle East and the rest of Asia such as Damascus, Guangzhou and Mumbai. Tehran is also linked to destinations in Europe like London and Moscow.[28] In the fiscal year ending on 20 March 2019, the airport handled 7.27 million passengers, making it the third busiest in Iran. It received 142,000 tonnes of cargo, and the number of aircraft movements was 47,000.[29]

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Abu Dhabi,[30] Sharjah
Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Seasonal: İzmir
Ariana Afghan Airlines Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif
Armenia Airways Yerevan
ATA Airlines Baghdad, Istanbul, Najaf, Tbilisi
Seasonal: İzmir
Austrian Airlines Vienna[31]
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku[32]
Caspian Airlines Ankara, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul, İzmir, Najaf
Seasonal: Denizli
Cham Wings Airlines Damascus, Latakia
China Southern Airlines Beijing–Daxing,[33] Ürümqi[34]
Conviasa Caracas, Damascus[35]
Corendon Airlines Seasonal Charter: Kayseri
Emirates Dubai–International
Fly Baghdad Baghdad, Najaf
flydubai Dubai–International
Gazipaşa/Alanya
Georgian Wings Tbilisi
Rome–Fiumicino, Vienna
Seasonal: Denizli, İzmir, Jeddah, Medina
Iran Airtour Baghdad, Dubai–International, Istanbul, Najaf, Yerevan
Seasonal: Denizli, İzmir
Iran Aseman Airlines Baghdad, Istanbul, Najaf, Tbilisi
Seasonal: Batumi, İzmir
Iraqi Airways Baghdad, Najaf, Sulaimaniyah
Jazeera Airways Kuwait City[38]
Kam Air Kabul,[39] Mazar-i-Sharif
Kish Air Almaty
Seasonal: Najaf
Kuwait Airways Kuwait City
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mahan Air Aleppo, Ankara, Baghdad, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Beijing–Capital, Beirut, Damascus, Delhi, Dubai–International, Erbil, Guangzhou, Istanbul, Kabul, Kirkuk,[40] Kuala Lumpur–International,[41] Lahore, Latakia, Mazar-i-Sharif, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Moscow–Vnukovo, Najaf, Shanghai–Pudong, Shenzhen (resumes 24 May 2024),[42] Sulaimaniyah[43]
Seasonal: Minsk, Phuket, Saint Petersburg
Meraj Airlines Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, Istanbul, Najaf
Seasonal: Dalaman, Saint Petersburg
Nordwind Airlines Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Seasonal: Saint Petersburg
Oman Air Muscat
Gazipaşa/Alanya
Qatar Airways Doha
Tashkent,[45] Tbilisi, Yerevan
Seasonal: Batumi, Denizli, Isparta, İzmir
SalamAir Muscat
Sepehran Airlines Ankara,[46] Baghdad, Muscat, Tbilisi, Yerevan[47]
Somon Air Dushanbe[48]
Taban Air Baghdad, Istanbul, Muscat, Najaf
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal: Adana
Varesh Airlines Dushanbe, Muscat, Najaf, Tbilisi, Yerevan
Seasonal: Batumi
Yazd Airways Kabul, Kandahar,[49] Istanbul,[50] Mazar-i-Sharif
Tashkent, Tbilisi
Seasonal: Batumi

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Frankfurt
Qatar Airways Cargo[52]
Doha, Hong Kong
Turkish Cargo[53][54]
Hanoi, Istanbul

Ground transportation

Imam Khomeini International Airport is accessible from Tehran via the Tehran–Qom and Tehran–Saveh freeways.[55] It is also served by a station on Line 1 of the Tehran Metro, which opened in August 2017.[56]

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

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External links

Media related to Imam Khomeini International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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