Cairo International Airport: Difference between revisions
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=== Terminal 1 === |
=== Terminal 1 === |
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[[Image:Cairoairport.jpg|thumb|right|Terminal 1]] |
[[Image:Cairoairport.jpg|thumb|right|Terminal 1]] |
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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 though [[Benghazi Airport]] to [[Algiers airport]] on the North African route to [[Dakar Airport]] in [[French West Africa]]. (1943-1945). |
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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, [[Ellinikon International Airport|Athens]], [[Greece]] and on to destinations in [[Europe]].<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atcroutes-1sep1945.jpg]</ref> |
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| ⚫ | 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. |
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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." |
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." |
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Revision as of 20:35, 8 May 2009
Cairo International Airport مطار القاهرة الدولي | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Cairo Airport Authority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Cairo, Egypt | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 382 ft / 116 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 30°07′19″N 031°24′20″E / 30.12194°N 31.40556°E | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www.cairo-airport.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cairo International Airport (IATA: CAI, ICAO: HECA) (Arabic: مطار القاهرة الدولي) 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 15km 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. [4]
Cairo International is the second busiest airport in Africa after Johannesburg International Airport in South Africa. 58 airlines use Cairo airport (including charter airlines) and 10 cargo airlines. With the assimilation of EgyptAir 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 2008, the airport served 14,360,175 passengers (+14.2% vs. 2007) and handled just over 138,000 aircraft movements (+12.4% vs. 2007).
The airport has three terminals with a third (and largest) opening on 27 April 2009. A fourth runway is currently under construction (opens late 2009) and a single cargo terminal. Runway 05L/23R is 3,300m long, 05C/23C has a length of 4,000m and 16/34 is 3,180m (all of the runways are 60m wide). The fourth runway (05R/23L), which is south of the existing airfield is 4,000m by 65m and will be suitable for the Airbus A380.
Terminals
Terminal 1
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 though 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.[5]
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 is used by EgyptAir for its domestic and international flights, however their operations will fully transfer to the new Terminal 3 on 15 June 2009. It is also used by several Middle Eastern airlines, and an increasing number of other foreign carriers, such as Air France and KLM, who transferred operations from Terminal 2 in 2006. Terminal 1 has 12 gates
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 2
Terminal 2 was inaugurated in 1986.[6] It serves primarily European and Far Eastern airlines, airlines from the Gulf region, and sub-Saharan Africa.
The architecture of the terminal building limits the possibility of expansion. There is significant congestion when more than 3 flights check in simultaneously, or more than 2 planes arrive at the same time. The terminal itself has 7 boarding gates.
In April 2009 a new exclusive lounge opened in the Departure area of Terminal 2 . The Exclusive lounge is a small world of its own and includes a separate VIP entrance guarantying privacy away from the general public and offers an impressive setting for departures.
In July 2008 the Cairo Airport Company (CAC) said it would allocate $400 million to develop the airport's Terminal 2. The move is meant to increase the terminal capacity from 3 million passengers to 7.5 million annually. The entire terminal's "look & feel" will improve dramatically once the renovation works are completed. Upgrade of Terminal 2 shall include a modernization of the 20 years old facility to reach the same level of service as the new Terminal 3 since both terminals will be operated "under one roof" in the near future.
NACO/ECG were assigned to prepare three (3) different scenarios for Terminal 2’s re-development and the draft report was submitted in April 2008. The detailed design for T2 is ongoing. The project which will take 36 months will double the capacity of T2 to around 7.5 million passengers. It will include larger and more modern retail areas and will also include Airbus A380 gates. The project will take around 36 months to be completed at a cost of approximately USD 350 million. Upon completion in 2013 the passengers can expect a highly enhanced modern designed terminal offering international standard service levels and more passengers' convenience to include a large and appealing retail area and lounges.
As an interim measure several carriers operating from the terminal will briefly relocate to Terminal 3 while the terminal is renovated.
Terminal 3
Given projected growth, and the limited ability to expand Terminal 2, the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation began construction of Terminal 3. The terminal was officially inaugurated by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday 18th 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 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 will be overhauled once it fully tranfers all its operations (international and domestic) into the state of the art terminal by 15 June 2009. To implement the Star Alliance “Move Under One Roof” concept all alliance members serving the airport will relocate to the terminal.
The transfer of operations at the terminal is taking place in several phases with the first phase occuring on 27th April 2009 with the inauguration of the first commercial flight from the terminal - EgyptAir flight MS985 from Cairo to New York JFK. EgyptAir Express (EgyptAir's domestic subsidiary) will move all operations to the new building first followed by EgyptAir's own domestic flights, then its international operations and finally those of Star Alliance members by May 2009. See below for a detailed breakdown of each phase:
EgyptAir and EgyptAir Express phased transfer into the new terminal:
- Domestic (Flights Egypt)
- 25MAY09: Abu Simbel, Alexandria (el Nouzha), Aswan, Hurghada, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Sharm el-Shaykh
- 27MAY09: Assiut
- 04JUN09: Mersa Matruh
- International Flights (except USA)
- 15JUN09: Algiers, Amman, Athens, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Barcelona, Beirut, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Brussels, Casablanca, Catania, Damascus, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Geneva, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Kano, Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Larnaca, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Muscat, Medina, Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Munich, Milan, Paris (Charles de Gaulle), Riyadh, Rome, Sanaa, Sharjah, Tripoli, Vienna
- 16JUN09: Accra, Addis Ababa, Aleppo, Berlin-Schoenfeld, Dar-es-Salaam, Düsseldorf, Entebbe, Lagos, Montreal-Dorval, Nairobi, Tokyo-Narita,
- 17JUN09: Amsterdam, Asmara, Benghazi, Lisbon, Beijing, Tunis
- 18JUN09: Malta, Osaka
Other Star Alliance carriers' transfer into Terminal 3:
- TBD: bmi, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines
Non-Star Alliance carrier(s) transfer into Terminal 3:
- TBD: Aegean Airlines
As an interim measure other non-Star Alliance carriers operating from Terminal 2 will briefly relocate to Terminal 3 in 2009 while the former terminal is renovated.
The new terminal includes:
- Terminal 3 comprises a main building with two symmetrical concourses, or "wings," and totals 211,000 m2 in floor area with the ancillary services. The structures are unified with each other as well as the existing terminal 2 via skywalk bridges.
- The design will help EgyptAir and its Star Alliance partners to reduce transfer time between flights to just 45 minutes, regardless of whether the transfers are domestic, international, or a mix of the two and with different Alliance partners.
- The terminal is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art technology including self-service kiosks (CUSS) in the check-in hall, biometric immigration and fully automated baggage-handling system with integrated online screening. This is in addition to information kiosks, strategically placed throughout the building. Thus, the New IT system will ensure an efficient and cost-effective operation
- Terminal 3 will revolutionalize duty-free shopping in Egypt. With close to 4,000 m2 of retail space, the shops offer passengers both popular international brands and introduce exclusive brands new to the Egyptian. The new Terminal will also include food and beverage areas with local and international brands
- The Info-Kiosk will provide the user with access to a wide range of different information and information sources such as frequently asked questions, telephone directories, local accommodation, transportation, business facilities, rent a car, conference facilities, information on Retail and F&B facilities on airport , an airport map, parking, and links to most important web sites. All this will be in the form of a touch screen technology that can easily be understood by travelers as well as the “Meeters and Greeters”.
- 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), 26 passport control desks at check-in and 28 passport control desks at check-out, 54 aircraft parking places, 7 baggage carousels, 110 Check-in desks and 160 elevators, moving walkways and escalators.
- 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 road.
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 hotel is to be built in front the new Terminal 3 and linked with an air-conditioned, 230m long skyway that is also equipped with moving walkway/travelators. The Hotel will offer, on a total of 10,000 sqm of land assigned for the facility, opportunities for Conferences, Business Meetings and simply the highest comfort. The hotel will include 350 rooms and will be managed by Le Meridien.
- An Automated Peaple Mover (APM) will integrate into the airport’s infrastructure to ensure a smooth and seamless passenger flow and reduce walking distances for passengers. Based on a "Cable Car System" which is a highly innovative public transportation rope-hauled system, the new APM will be a high-performance, cost-effective solution for passenger transportation at CAI. The main station will be located between T2/T3 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 of 2011 and will link T1 , the Air Mall , the Multi-storey Car Park and Terminals 2/3.
- Construction of a new fourth runway for completion in late 2009, south of the existing airfield. The third parallel runway which is 4,000 m long (65 m wide) will replace the current cross runway once it goes into operation in 2009 and will increase the airport's runway capacity to 120 movements/hr.
- The opening of a new ATC Tower.
- The Cairo Cargo City (CCC) will provide state of the art facilities to support the growth in cargo traffic through the airport. After finalizing the feasibility study in May 2007, the local firm "Hamza & Associates" in cooperation with Lufthansa Consulting was awarded the contract to plan and design the infrastructure and buildings for the new CCC. This is expected to be completed by September 2008 after which CAC will initiate the necessary tender processes to start the construction work. The first phase which will include a Cargo Terminal capable of handling 170,000 tones as well as two forwarders buildings is expected to go into operation in 2011`f. The second Terminal to be built in the second phase will add another 150,000 tons. At the same time and in order to increase the quality level, CAC started negotiations with international and professional handlers to manage and operate the new facility.
- Expanding the Cairo Metro to serve the airport. The new line, which is in an advanced stage of planning, will link the airport at one end, and Mohandessin (in Giza), at the other. It is expected to be operational by 2012.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines have scheduled services from Cairo International Airport as of May 2009:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | Athens |
| Aeroflot | Moscow-Sheremetyevo |
| Afriqiyah Airways | Tripoli |
| Air Algérie | Algiers |
| Air France | Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
| Air Memphis | various charter routes, domestic and international |
| Alexandria Airlines | Alexandria, Aqaba, Luxor; other charter destinations |
| Alitalia | Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino |
| AlMasria Universal Airlines | launches operations in 2009 |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
| AMC Airlines | Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Luxor, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sharm el-Sheikh; various charter routes, domestic and international |
| bmi | London-Heathrow |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow |
| Buraq Air | Tripoli |
| Cairo Aviation | various charter routes - domestic and international |
| Cyprus Airways | Larnaca |
| Czech Airlines | Prague |
| Delta Air Lines | New York-JFK |
| EgyptAir | Abu Dhabi, Abu Simbel, Accra, Addis Ababa, Aleppo, Alexandria, Algiers, Amman, Amsterdam, Asmara, Assiut, Aswan, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Beijing-Capital, Beirut, Benghazi, Berlin-Schönefeld, Brussels, Casablanca, Damascus, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Dar es Salaam [begins 2 June], Düsseldorf, Entebbe, Frankfurt, Geneva, Guangzhou, Hurghada, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Kano, Khartoum, Kuala Lumpur-Sepang, Kuwait, Lagos, Larnaca, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Lusaka [begins June], Luxor, Madrid, Madinah, Milan-Malpensa, Montréal-Trudeau [seasonal], Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Munich, Muscat, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Osaka-Kansai, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Riyadh, Rome-Fiumicino, Sanaa, Sharjah, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tokyo-Narita, Tripoli, Tunis, Vienna |
| Air Sinai | Tel Aviv |
| EgyptAir Express | Alexandria, Aswan, Budapest, Catania, Hurghada, Luxor, Malta, Marsa Alam, Mersa Metruh, Sharm el-Sheikh |
| El Al | Tel Aviv |
| Emirates | Dubai |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa, Khartoum |
| Etihad Airways | Abu Dhabi |
| Eurocypria Airlines | Paphos |
| Gulf Air | Bahrain |
| Iberia Airlines | Madrid |
| Iberworld | Madrid |
| Iraqi Airways | Baghdad |
| Jetairfly | Brussels |
| Kenya Airways | Khartoum, Nairobi |
| KLM | Amsterdam |
| Koral Blue Airlines | Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh |
| Korean Air | Seoul-Incheon |
| Kuwait Airways | Kuwait |
| Libyan Airlines | Benghazi, Sebha, Tripoli |
| Lotus Air | Gdansk, Hurghada, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sharm el-Sheikh, Warsaw |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt |
| Middle East Airlines | Beirut |
| Nasair | Asmara, London Gatwick (starts 22 May) |
| Nile Air | launches operations in 2009 |
| Olympic Airlines | Athens |
| Oman Air | Muscat |
| Petroleum Air Services | various domestic airports and oilfield airstrips |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca, Riyadh |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman, Aqaba |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | Abha (starts 17 June), Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh |
| Singapore Airlines | Dubai, Singapore |
| Sudan Airways | Khartoum, Port Sudan |
| Swiss International Air Lines | Zürich |
| Syrian Arab Airlines | Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia |
| TAROM | Bucharest-Otopeni |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul-Atatürk |
| TUIfly | Berlin-Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Munich |
| Tunis Air | Tunis |
| Wataniya Airways | Kuwait |
| Yemenia | Aden, London-Heathrow, Sana'a |
Cargo airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air France Cargo | Bahrain, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Lyons, Marseilles |
| EgyptAir Cargo | Bordeaux, Düsseldorf, Hahn, Khartoum, London-Stansted, Ostend, Sharjah |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa, Liège |
| Lufthansa Cargo | Frankfurt |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman |
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | Jeddah, Riyadh |
| Thai Airways International | Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Karachi, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phuket |
| Tristar Air | Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Kent-Manston |
Ground transportation
A free shuttle bus links the two terminals, 3 km (1.9 miles) apart. The bus runs 24 hours a day and departs approximately every 30 minutes.
The airport is connected to the city by three roads, the main access road is the Salah Salem Road that goes through Heliopolis from downtown, another secondary road, the Autostrad road.And a newly constructed road that runs from the Cairo-Suez highway to the airport,just westwards from the ring road)
A newly established shuttle bus service reaches to several destinations such as Heliopolis, Nasr City, Downtown Cairo, Giza, Mohandesin, Zamalek, Maadi and Haram (Pyramids area).
The Airport Bus Service (both air-conditioned and non air-conditioned) operates from Terminal 1. There are several bus stop at Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo, Mohandesin, and along Pyramids Road in Giza.
Future plans
There are plans to expand the Cairo Metro to serve the airport. The new line, which is in an advanced stage of planning, will link the airport at one end, and Mohandessin (in Giza), at the other. It is expected to be operational by 2010.
Disasters
Cairo International Airport has been the origination or termination for several flights that did not reach their final destination properly:
- On May 20, 1965, Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK 705 the inaugural flight on the Karachi - Dhahran - Cairo - London route crashed during a scheduled night approach to Runway 34 at Cairo International Airport, after the crew failed to monitor and correct the descent rate. 119 of the 125 on board the Boeing 720 - 040 B (AP - AMH) were killed.
- On 31 October, 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990 from JFK to CAI crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take off. All on board were killed.
References
- ^ Cairo International Airport, official website
- ^ Template:WAD
- ^ Airport information for CAI / HECA at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ "Fraport AG Wins Management Contract for Cairo Airport in Egypt". 2004-12-20. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Airport History". Cairo International Airport. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
![[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atcroutes-1sep1945.jpg){kind=link}
External links
- Accident history for CAI at Aviation Safety Network
- Airport information for HECA at Great Circle Mapper.
- Current weather for HECA at NOAA/NWS
- Template:WAD
