Cairo International Airport مطار القاهرة الدولي
IATA: CAI – ICAO: HECA
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Cairo Airport Authority
Serves		Cairo, Egypt
Hub for		EgyptAir
Elevation AMSL		382 ft / 116 m
Coordinates		30°07′19″N 031°24′20″E / 30.12194°N 31.40556°E / 30.12194; 31.40556
Website		www.cairo-airport.com
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
05L/23R	3,301	10,830	Asphalt
05C/23C	3,999	13,120	Asphalt
05R/23L	4,000	13,124	Asphalt
Sources: Airport website and DAFIF

Cairo International Airport (IATA: CAI, ICAO: HECA) (Arabic: مطار القاهرة الدولي Maṭār al-Qāhirah al-Duwaliyy) is the busiest airport in Egypt and the primary hub for Star Alliance member EgyptAir. The airport is located to the north-east of the city around 15 km from the business area of the city.

The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Co. for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN), which controls four companies including: Cairo Airport Co., Egyptian Airports Co., National Air Navigation Services and Aviation Information Technology and the Cairo Airport Authority (CAA), which is the regulatory body. In 2004, Fraport AG won the management contract to run the airport for 8 years.

Cairo International is the second busiest airport in Africa after OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa. Over 65 airlines use Cairo airport (including charter airlines) and 9 cargo airlines. EgyptAir is the largest operator at the airport, holding 61% of the departure slots in 2009. With the assimilation of the carrier into Star Alliance in July 2008 the airport has the potential to be a major hub with its positioning between Africa, the Middle East and Europe (especially with facilities for the A380).

In 2009, the airport served 14,382,042 passengers (+0.2% vs. 2008) and handled just under 143,000 aircraft movements (+3.6% vs. 2008). Total airfreight tonnage handled at the airport in 2009 dropped by 3.9% to approximately 274,550 tonnes.

The airport has three terminals, with the third (and largest) opened on 27 April 2009. Terminal 2 was closed in April 2010 for major renovation works to the building's structure and facilities. A third parallel runway is currently under construction and will replace the current crossing runway once it goes into operation in 2010. Runway 05L/23R is 3,300m long, 05C/23C has a length of 4,000m and the new runway will be designated as 05R/23L and will be 4,000m. A new cargo terminal is also under construction.

In 2010, the airport was voted one of the three most improved airports in the 2010 Skytrax World Airport Awards.

Terminals

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 Entrance

During World War II, the United States Army Air Force built Payne Airfield to serve the Allied Forces, rather than take over the existing Almaza Airport, located 5 km away. Payne Field was a major Air Transport Command air cargo and passenger hub, connecting westwards through Benghazi Airport to Algiers airport on the North African route to Dakar Airport in French West Africa. (1943–1945).

Other locations which transport routes were flown were RAF Habbaniya, Iraq on the Cairo - Karachi, India route; Lydda Airport, British Palestine; Jeddah, Arabia , on the Central African route to Roberts Field, Liberia (1941–1943), and later after the war ended, Athens, Greece and on to destinations in Europe.

When American forces left the base at the end of the war, the Civil Aviation Authority took over the facility and began using it for international civil aviation. In 1963, Cairo International Airport replaced the old Heliopolis Airport, which had been located at the Hike-Step area in the east of Cairo.

The terminal facilities include Departure Hall 1, International Hall 3, and Hall 4 for Private & Non-commercial Aircraft Services. As part of the recent upgrading and facility improvement scheme, the CAA demolished the old hall 3, previously used for domestic arrivals and departures, to reconstruct a new hall to be used for international arrivals. Terminal 1 is locally known as the "Old Airport," although its facilities were recently given a complete overhaul and are newer than those of Terminal 2, which is still known as the "New Airport."

Terminal 1 was originally used by EgyptAir and several Middle Eastern airlines however an increasing number of other foreign carriers, such as Air France and KLM transferred operations from Terminal 2 in 2006. In May 2009 EgyptAir moved all its operations to the new Terminal 3 (along with all Star Alliance airlines serving the airport). In March 2010, with the closure of Terminal 2 for major renovation works, all non-Star Alliance airlines serving the airport shifted operations to the terminal.

Currently all airlines based in the terminal arrive into Hall 3. Departures are however divided with all airlines departing from Terminal 1 Hall 1, with the exception Saudi Arabian Airlines who are the sole tenant of Terminal 1 Hall 2 due to the size of their operations (SV accounted for 65% of Terminal 2's traffic in 2009).

The CAA has also inaugurated the "Airport City Concept," to provide an array of services and entertainment facilities to travelers, airport visitors, as well as the general public. The first phase of this, a new shopping mall called the 'AirMall' has been built near Terminal 1's New International Arrival Hall 3.

As of 2009 the façade of the terminal was being upgraded. The cladding which includes the landside facades of the terminal, the water tower and CAC's administration buildings. A Study on reorganizing the departure and arrival Halls is ongoing as well as the feasibility study to include a number of contact stands to improve the service and comfort levels to the passengers. Terminal 1 has 12 gates.

Hall 4

Terminal 1 - Hall 4 is dedicated to private and executive jet services. Even though it is referred to as a 'Hall' under Terminal 1 it is operated independently from the commercial passenger terminal. It has proven to be one of the most successful general aviation halls in the Middle East.

Smart Aviation Company has been based at the building since 2007 however will move to a new executive FBO in 2010 located adjacent to Hall 4.

Terminal 2 (closed for renovations)

Terminal 2 was inaugurated in 1986 with 7 boarding gates. It primarily served European, Gulf and Far Eastern airlines. The terminal was closed in April 2010 for complete renovations which will last 36 months. The architecture of the terminal building limited the opportunities for further expansion which necessitated the entire building to be closed for major structural overhaul at an estimated cost of $400 million.

In February 2010 the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a loan amount of $280 million to support the Cairo Airport Development Project (CADP) to overhaul the terminal with nationals banks providing the rest. The project will increase the terminal capacity from 3 to 7.5 million passengers annually. The entire terminal's "look & feel" will improve dramatically once the renovation works are completed. The upgrade shall include the complete modernisation of the 20 year old facility to reach the same level of service as the new Terminal 3. Once completed, the renovated terminal will be operated jointly with Terminal 3 as one integrated terminal, thus, reinforcing the role of Cairo International Airport as a regional hub.

The project will take 36 months to complete and double the capacity of T2 to around 7.5 million passengers and double the number of gates from 7 to 14 (and an additional 5 remote stands). Upon completion the terminal will raise the airports passenger capacity to 24 million.

The terminal will include larger and more modern retail areas and will also include Airbus A380 gates. Upon completion in 2013 the passengers can expect a highly modern terminal offering international standard service levels and more passenger conveniences, including large retail areas and lounges.

As an interim measure all airlines housed in the terminal were relocated in phases to Terminal 1 in March 2010.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3

Given projected growth, and the limited ability to expand Terminal 2, the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation began construction of Terminal 3 in 2004. The terminal was officially inaugurated by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday 18 December, 2008 and opened for commercial operations on 27 April 2009. The facility is twice as large as the current two terminal buildings combined, with the capacity to handle 11 million passengers annually (6m international & 5m domestic) once the first phase is completed. It is located adjacent to Terminal 2, and the two terminals will initially be connected by a bridge. Access roads have already been redesigned, and the parking lots relocated.

With its hub at the airport EgyptAir's operations were overhauled with the full transfer of its operations (international and domestic) into the state of the art terminal between 27 April and 15 June 2009. To implement the Star Alliance “Move Under One Roof” concept all alliance members serving the airport were relocated to the terminal by 1 August 2009.

The new terminal includes:

• Two piers of extendable capacity and gates facilities serving domestic and international traffic, handled through contact and remote. The main building and the piers are connected by concourses. Two of the gates will be equipped to handle the Airbus A380 aircraft. Provisions for a third pier are currently in the planning stages.
• Terminal 3 has 23 gates (2 gates for the A380), 6 check-in islands consisting of 110 check-in counters (plus 10 mobile counters & 10 CUSS kiosks), 76 emigration and immigration counters (plus 5 biometric gates), 52 contact & remote aircraft parking stands (5 with multiple use), 425 FIDS, 15 public information points, 7 baggage carousels, 63 elevators, 50 moving walkways and 51 escalators.
• Retails space covers almost 4,000m (3,935m belonging to EgyptAir Tourism & Duty Free Shops with 2,175m dedicated to various international restaurants).
• Land side works including bridges and fly-over serving the traffic to and from the terminal building, surface car park areas (multi-story parking garage capable of holding more than 3,000 cars), a new access road connecting the airport with the Autostrad road (Cairo ring road) and upgrading the access roads.

Other developments

With the national carrier, EgyptAir and the Egyptian authorities planning to develop the airport as a hub for the Middle East and Africa, the airport facilities are in constant development.

Several projects are underway including:

• A luxury 350-room five-star Le Méridien hotel is to be built in front the new Terminal 3 with an opening date set for December 1, 2012. The hotel will be linked to the terminal by a 230m long skyway that is also equipped with moving walkway. The hotel and associated facilities will cost $91 million.
• Construction of a new fourth 4,000m runway for completion in late 2010, south of the existing airfield.
• The opening of a new 120m 'lotus-shaped'ATC on the 16th of May, 2010.
• Construction of a multi-storey car park located in Terminal 2 for completion in June 2011.
• Construction of a automated people mover (APM). The main station will be located between Terminals 2 and 3 and will become an integral part of the bridge connecting the two terminals. The 1.8 km track is expected to go into operation by mid-2011 and will link Terminal 1, the Air Mall, the multi-storey car park and Terminals 2 and 3.
• Continued upgrade of the landside façade of Terminal 1.
• Renovation and expansion of Terminal 2.
• The Cairo Cargo City (CCC) will provide state of the art facilities to support the growth in cargo traffic through the airport.
• Expanding the Cairo Metro to serve the airport. The new line, Line 3, which is in an advanced stage of execution, will link Greater Cairo from east to west with the airport at one end, and Mohandessin district at the other. It is expected to be fully operational by 2012.
• Development of real estate and the 'Oasis Project' which entails a business park with company headquarters and regional offices.
• Construction of 'Aerocity' , a family leisure park to be built within the airport's investment zone. With an area of 3 million square metres, the enterprise should cost 1 billion Egyptian pounds (US$ 183 million) and will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will consist of the building of a business centre, and the second, of a entertainment park following the guidelines of Disney World, in the United States. There will also be parks, artificial lake, game courts, a water park, 18 cinemas and several restaurants. This will be a new feature of Cairo Airport and forms part of the long-term development and modernization plan.

Airlines and destinations

The following is a list of airlines serving the airport as of October 2010:

Scheduled

Charter

^1 : These flights make a stop en route to the listed destination (either in one direction or both). However the airlines do not have the right to transport passengers between Cairo and the en route stops.

Cargo

Image gallery

Accidents and incidents

• On 19 March 1965, Vickers Viscount YI-ACU of Iraqi Airways was damaged beyond economic repair when it ran into a number of lamp standards after a hydraulic system failure.

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
We don't guarantee the information is fresh and accurate. The data may be wrong or outdated.
For more up-to-date information please refer to other sources.