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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
05R/23L	4,000	13,124	Asphalt
05C/23C	3,999	13,120	Asphalt
05L/23R	3,301	10,830	Asphalt
16/34	3,178	10,427	Asphalt
Sources: Airport website[1] and DAFIF[2][3] f the existing airfield is 4,000m by 65m and will be suitable for the Airbus A380.

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 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.^[4]

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).

The airport has three terminals with a third (and largest) opened on 27 April 2009. A fourth runway is currently under construction (opens late 2010) 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).

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.^[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 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.

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 there since 2007.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 was inaugurated in 1986.^[6] It primarily served European, Gulf and Far Eastern airlines. The terminal was closed in several phases in early 2010 for complete renovation.

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 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. 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.

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 to complete will 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). It 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 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 1 while the terminal is renovated. The following have/will shift operations from T2 to T1:

• Alitalia
• Olympic Air
• Oman Air
• Gulf Air
• Kuwait Airways
• Iberia
• British Airways from 27 March 2010
• Etihad Airways - date to be announced

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^th 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 over 6,000m² (3,935m² belonging to EgyptAir Tourism & Duty Free Shops and 2,175m² 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 Tower in 2011.
• 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.
  

  

  Under-construction ATC tower
• 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

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

Terminal 1	A rendering of the new terminal 2 due to be completed in 2013	The plan for the new terminal which will include a new check-in area, a new pier and a new apron	The new home of Egypt Air at Terminal 3
The remote stands at Terminal 3	The baggage claim area.	The departure hall.	Egypt Air planes at their new hub.

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.^[7]

References

Airports of Egypt Abu Simbel Airport  • Alexandria: Borg El Arab Airport  • Alexandria: El Nouzha Airport  • Assiut Airport  • Aswan: Daraw Airport  • Cairo International Airport  • El Arish International Airport  • Hurghada Airport  • Luxor International Airport  • Marsa Alam Airport  • Mersa Matruh Airport  • Port Said Airport  • Sharm el-Sheikh: Ophira Airport  • Sharq Al-Owainat Airport  • St. Catherine International Airport  • Taba International Airport