Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport

Imam Khomeini
International Airport
(IKIA)
فرودگاه بین المللی امام خمینی تهران
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Iran Civil Aviation Organization
Operator Iranian Airports Holding Company
Serves Tehran metropolitan area
Location Ahmadabad, Tehran, Iran
Opened 8 May 2004
Hub for
Time zone IRST (UTC+3:30)
 • Summer (DST) IRDT (UTC+04:30)
Elevation AMSL 3,305 ft / 1,007 m
Coordinates 35°24′58″N 051°09′08″E / 35.41611°N 51.15222°E / 35.41611; 51.15222
Website ikac.ir
Map
IKA
Location within Iran
IKA
IKA (Asia)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11L/29R 13,772 4,198 Asphalt
11R/29L
Closed		 13,940 4,249 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Aircraft Movements 58,123 Increase 9%
Passengers 8,852,232 Increase 13%
Cargo (t) 163,699 Increase 11%

Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (Persian: فرودگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی‎) (IATA: IKA, ICAO: OIIE), is the primary international airport of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, located 30 kilometers southwest of Tehran, near the localities of Robat Karim and Eslamshahr and spread over an area of 13,500 hectares of land. Along with Mehrabad International Airport, Imam Khomeini Airport is one of the two international airports serving Tehran. All International flights in Tehran are currently served by this airport and all domestic flights are served by Mehrabad Airport. the airport has served about 9 million international passengers. It ranked 3rd in terms of total passenger traffic in Iran after Tehran Mehrabad Airport and Mashhad Airport. The airport is operated by the Iran Airports Company and is one of the home base of Iran's international airlines, Iran Air, Mahan Air and some other.

History

Early planning

Construction of the airport began prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution. The original designers were Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton (TAMS), an American engineering and architectural consulting partnership. A local joint venture was formed between TAMS and local firm Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian Associates called TAMS-AFFA, to carry out the full design and supervision of construction. Following the Iranian revolution, however, the project was abandoned until the government of Iran decided to design and build the airport using local expertise.

Construction

French firm ADP was selected to head the local designers and engineering firms. A turnkey design and build contract was awarded to a local general contractor company, Kayson Co., to carry out and manage the construction. After two years this contract was abandoned and was awarded to a bonyad, the Mostazafan Foundation.[2]

Initial opening

Iran Air Airbus A300, being refuelled at Imam Khomeini International Airport.

After construction of Terminal 1 was completed by the Mostazafan Foundation, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization decided to turn the management of operations along with the construction of the second terminal to the TAV (Tepe-Akfen-Vie) consortium consisting of two Turkish (Tepe and Akfen) and an Austrian (Vie) companies. The original opening was scheduled for 11 February 2004, the onset of the auspicious "Ten-Day Dawn" (1–11 February) celebrations, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. There were numerous issues surrounding the construction of the airport including the supply of fuel to the new airport, and a delay in signing a deal with the Iranian oil ministry forced a delay in the opening of the airport until 8 May 2004.

Just prior to the opening on 8 May, two local airlines refused to switch to the new airport. Economic Hayat-e No daily quoted Ali Abedzadeh, director of semi-privately owned Iran Aseman Airlines, as saying "We are not flying from an airport run by foreigners." TAV officials were ordered to withdraw their personnel and equipment from the airport on 7 May 2004, and operations were handed over to Iran Air. "I think they (the armed forces) were given false reports that the Turks were still on the site, while they had all evacuated the airport by Friday," airport manager Hossein Pirouzi said. However, on 8 May, a few hours after the opening of airport, the Revolutionary Guards of the Iranian Armed Forces closed it, citing security fears over the use of foreigners in the running of the airport. Only one Emirates flight from Dubai was allowed to land. The second flight from Dubai, which was an Iran Air flight, was forced to land in Isfahan International Airport, because the Mehrabad Airport did not allow it to land there after the Imam Khomeini airport was closed by the armed forces. The rest of the flights were diverted to Mehrabad. On 11 May, in a meeting of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Turkish expressed unease about the actions of the Iranian armed forces. The airport reopened on 13 May, as deputy head of Iran's Joint Chiefs of staff Brigadier-General Alireza Afshar stated "because foreign companies will no longer be in charge of the airport's operation, security obstacles are removed."

Second opening

Mahan Air Airbus A340 parked at IKIA.

In April 2005 the $350 million Imam Khomeini International Airport was reopened under the management of a consortium of four local airlines—Mahan Air, Aseman, Caspian Airlines and Kish Air—although no formal contract appeared to have been awarded. Soon later management of the airport was transferred to the Iran Airports Company which in behalf of Iranian Ministry of Roads and Transportation is in charge of operating all civil and governmental Iranian airports except some belongs to special organizations like Oil ministry or Armed Forces.[3]

Final opening

On 26 October 2007, it was announced that as of 28 October 2007 at midnight, all international flights except those bound to and from Damascus, Jeddah and Medina were transferred to the Imam Khomeini International Airport and the IKA became Tehran's primary international airport. In 2016, as a result of worsening ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, all Hajj flights from Iran were terminated, rendering IKA the only international gateway to Tehran.[4]

Statistics

Airlines in the terminal.
The Emirates Airbus A380 saluted by traditional water cannon ceremony In Imam Khomeini Int'l Airport, 2014

In 2013, the airport handled 4.756 million passengers, a 20% increase over the previous year. This made it the eleventh busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the Middle East. The airport handled 98,904 tonnes of cargo in 2013. The total number of commercial aircraft movements was 36,827 in 2013.[5]

Annual traffic

Annual Passenger Traffic[6]
Year Passengers % Change
20115,020,836Steady
20124,735,089Decrease 6%
20134,756,012Increase 0.4%
20146,049,062Increase 27%
20157,243,120Increase 20%
20167,821,369Increase 8%
20178,852,232Increase 13%

Operations

Post-nuclear sanctions temporary boom

Subsequent to the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in mid January 2016, Air France resumed flights to the Iranian capital after having suspended them in 2008. On 17 April 2016,[7] Air Asia resumed Tehran services by offering direct flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Tehran after having suspended them in 2012. These flights were subsequently canceled in 2017 and 2018.

Furthermore, various other airlines including Austrian, Alitalia, British Airways,[8] KLM, China Southern Airlines[9] and Thai Airways[10] either resumed or ramped up frequency of their flights to Tehran. Nevertheless, some of these routes proved not profitable, resulting in the cancellation of Tehran routes by KLM, British Airways and Air France effective September 2018.[11][12]

Infrastructure

Passenger Terminals

Salam Terminal a new terminal which is under construction for international application
Ibis and Novotel 4 and 5 star hotels at the airport city

Terminal 1

IKIA's first active (and as of July 2018, its only operational) terminal has a total annual handling capacity of 6.5 million passengers and 120,000 tonnes of cargo. In 2017, it handled nearly 9 million passengers.[13]

Salam Terminal (Terminal 2)

The second terminal, called the Salam Terminal, is currently under construction, with a capacity of 5 million passengers per year. It was meant to be opened in June 2016, but financing issues led to its opening being delayed until the end of 2018. While originally intended as a dedicated pilgrimage terminal, according to Iran's Minister of Roads and Transportation Abbas Akhoundi, it will be open to all varieties of flights.[13]

Iranshahr Terminal (Terminal 3)

The third terminal, called the Iranshahr Terminal, is set to open in 2–3 years. It is currently in its planning phase, with the development contract awarded to the Dutch engineering firm Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV.[13] It will have an expected capacity of 20 million passengers per year, bringing the airport's total passenger capacity to 30 million passengers per year. Once opened, the current Terminal 1 will be used for domestic flights only.[14]

Runways

There are currently two runways at IKA of which only one is operational. The operational runway is equipped with the ILS CAT II since August 2009. A second ILS system was purchased seven years ago to serve the other runway but the selling firm refused to set it up due to sanctions against Iran. The ILS was installed by Iranian technicians but malfunctioned and was indefinitely switched off.[15] A third runway positioned to the south of the existing runways and passenger terminal is in final stages of construction.

Hotels

In October 2015, French corporation AccorHotels opened its Novotel and Ibis-branded hotels on the airport premises, marking the entry of the first international hotel chain into the Iranian market since the 1979 revolution.[16] The two hotels are connected to the main passenger terminal by a sky bridge passing through the airport metro station.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Moscow–Sheremetyevo
Air Arabia Sharjah
Alitalia Rome–Fiumicino
Al Naser Wings Charter: Baghdad, Najaf
ATA Airlines Batumi, Istanbul–Atatürk, Tbilisi
Seasonal: Denizli, Izmir
Atlantis European Airways Seasonal charter: Yerevan
AtlasGlobal Istanbul–Atatürk
Seasonal: Adana, Antalya, Izmir
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Borajet Charter: Adana, Antalya
Bravo Airways Kiev–Zhuliany
Bulgaria air Seasonal: Varna
Buta Airways Baku[17]
Cham Wings Airlines Damascus[18]
China Southern Airlines Beijing-Capital, Ürümqi[19]
Corendon Airlines Charter: Antalya, Kayseri
Emirates Dubai–International
Freebird Airlines Charter: Adana, Antalya, Istanbul–Atatürk, Izmir
Georgian Airways Seasonal: Batumi, Tbilisi
Germania Berlin–Schönefeld
Iran Air Amsterdam, Ankara, Baghdad, Baku,[20] Beirut, Belgrade,[21] Cologne/Bonn, Dubai–International, Frankfurt, Gothenburg–Landvetter, Hamburg, Istanbul–Atatürk, Karachi, London–Heathrow, Milan–Malpensa, Moscow—Sheremetyevo, Mumbai, Najaf, Paris-Charles de Gaulle,[22] Rome–Fiumicino, Saint Petersburg,[23] Stockholm–Arlanda, Tbilisi,[23] Vienna
Seasonal: Denizli,[24] Isparta,[25] Izmir,[26] Jeddah, Medina
Iran Aseman Airlines Baghdad, Istanbul–Atatürk, Najaf, Tbilisi
Seasonal: Isparta, Izmir, Moscow–Vnukovo, Saint Petersburg
Iraqi Airways Baghdad, Najaf, Nasiriyah
Kam Air Herat, Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif
Kish Air Seasonal: Baku, Denizli, Islamabad, Isparta, Istanbul–Atatürk, Izmir, Kiev–Boryspil, Najaf, Tbilisi, Yerevan
Kuwait Airways Kuwait City
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mahan Air Ankara, Baku,[27] Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona,[28] Beijing–Capital, Delhi, Dubai–International, Düsseldorf, Erbil, Guangzhou, Istanbul–Atatürk, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore,[29] Milan–Malpensa, Moscow–Vnukovo, Munich, Najaf, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Saint Petersburg, Shanghai–Pudong, Sulaimaniyah, Yerevan
Seasonal charter: Athens, Casablanca, Colombo, Denpasar, Denizli, Goa, Hanoi,[30] Ho Chi Minh City, Isparta, Izmir, Konya, Larnaca, Marrakesh, Mauritius, Phuket, Sochi, Varna
Meraj Airlines Baghdad, Istanbul–Atatürk, Najaf
Charter: Delhi, Denizli, Izmir, Konya
Nordwind Airlines Seasonal charter: Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Saint Petersburg
Nouvelair Seasonal charter: Monastir,[31] Tunis
Oman Air Muscat
Onur Air Seasonal charter: Adana, Antalya
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Seasonal: Adana, Antalya
Qatar Airways Doha
Qeshm Airlines Baghdad, Brussels,[32][33] Istanbul–Atatürk, Najaf, Sulaimaniyah (suspended)
Seasonal: Denizli, Isparta (suspended), Izmir, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Varna
Seasonal charter: Batumi, Belgrade, Larnaca,[34] Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Tbilisi[34] Yerevan
Syrian Air Seasonal: Damascus[35]
SunExpressSeasonal: Adana, Izmir
Seasonal charter: Antalya, Kayseri
Taban Air Baghdad, Istanbul–Atatürk, Najaf, Tbilisi
Seasonal: Batumi, Izmir, Moscow–Sheremetyevo[36]
Seasonal charter: Saint Petersburg
Tajik Air Dushanbe
Tailwind Airlines Charter: Adana, Antalya
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Seasonal: Ankara, Izmir
Ukraine International Airlines Kiev–Boryspil
Wings of Lebanon Charter: Beirut
Zagros Airlines Baghdad, Najaf, Istanbul–Atatürk, Tbilisi, Yerevan
Seasonal: Isparta, Izmir

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
AeroLogic Frankfurt
Fars Air Qeshm Damascus, Dubai-Al Maktoum
Iran Air Cargo Doha, Dubai–Al Maktoum
Lufthansa Cargo Frankfurt, Maastricht
MNG Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Silk Way AirlinesBaku
Turkish Airlines Cargo Hanoi, Istanbul–Atatürk, Karachi
Qatar Airways Cargo Doha, Hong Kong

Statistics

International Scheduled Weekly Departures From Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (2018)
RankCountryCityNumber of DeparturesCarriers
1 TurkeyIstanbul+140 ATA Airlines, AtlasGlobal, Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines
Kish Air, Mahan Air, Pegasus Airlines, Qeshm Airlines
Taban Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Zagros Airlines
2 IraqNajaf+70 ATA Airlines, Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines
Iraqi Airways, Mahan Air, Qeshm Airlines
Taban Airlines, Zagros Airlines
3 United Arab EmiratesDubai67 Emirates, Iran Air, Mahan Air, Qeshm Airlines
4 Georgia (country)Tbilisi+30 ATA Airlines, Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Kish Air
MyWay Airlines, Qeshm Airlines, Taban Airlines, Zagros Airlines
5 IraqBaghdad+25 Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Iraqi Airways
Mahan Air, Qeshm Airlines, Taban Airlines, Zagros Airlines
6 QatarDoha18 Qatar Airways
7 AustriaVienna16 Austrian Airlines, Iran Air
8 AzerbaijanBaku15 Buta Airways, Iran Air, Mahan Air
= RussiaMoscow15 Aeroflot, Iran Air, Mahan Air
9 GermanyFrankfurt11 Iran Air, Lufthansa
= ArmeniaYerevan11 Iran Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air
10 FranceParis6 Iran Air, Mahan Air

Ground transportation

Metro

Airport terminal view with view of Metro station on the right side of the picture

The airport is served by the Imam Khomeini Airport Metro Station. The metro connection for IKIA was opened on 7 August 2017, as a station on the new Tehran Metro Line 8, which is an extension of Tehran Metro Line 1. There are provisions for a second station serving the planned Iranshahr Terminal (Terminal 3) in the future.

Line 8 is the first 24/7 operational metro line in Tehran, serving mid-night passengers from Darvazeh Dowlat Metro Station to the Imam Khomeini Airport Metro Station. To arrive at Line 8, Line 1 passengers must transit from Shahed Metro Station to Shahr-e Aftab Metro Station, then, at Shahr-e Aftab Metro Station, passengers must board a Line 8 train.

At present, departures from IKIA to Shahr-e Aftab Metro Station are limited to 06:40, 08:00, 09:20, 10:40, 12:00 and 13:20 only. The duration of the journey between the two station is approximately 35 minutes. At Shahr-e-Aftab, passengers can change for Line 1 for journeys to on to Central Tehran. According to the Tehran City Council The price of the ticket is 75000IRR (US$1.5) (see Tickets & Fares).

High-speed rail

The airport is planned to be served by the Tehran-Qom-Isfahan High Speed Rail. The new link will enable direct rail access from the cities of Qom and Isfahan and a fast non-stop connection to Tehran Railway Station. The line is currently in early planning and construction phase.

Road

Imam Khomeini Airport is accessible from Tehran by car, taxi and shuttle buses via Tehran-Qom and Tehran-Saveh freeways. Airport-operated taxis serve arriving passenger 24/7. In 2017, a typical taxi journey from the airport to the center of Tehran takes around 45 minutes which costs 750,000 IRR ($20) and are often light yellow Toyota Camry, Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Caddy or IKCO Samand.[37]

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Traffic Figures". Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA)". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Economist Intelligence Unit". 18 August 2008.
  4. ↑ Reuters (29 May 2016). "Iranian pilgrims won't attend hajj amid row with Saudi Arabia". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "(IKA) Imam Khomeini International Airport". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  6. ↑ IAC. "Iran Airports Company - Home". en.airport.ir.
  7. ↑ "Air France plane lands in Iran for first time in 8 years - France 24". 18 April 2016.
  8. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "British Airways latest of several airlines to add flights To Iran".
  9. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "China Southern Increases Tehran Flights from April 2016".
  10. ↑ Liu, Jim. "Thai Airways adds Tehran service from Oct 2016". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "British Airways and Air France are stopping all flights to Iran, just before crushing new US sanctions kick in". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  12. ↑ "KLM to suspend direct flights to Tehran". KLM to suspend direct flights to Tehran. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  13. 1 2 3 "Update on the New IKIA Terminals, Air Astana Started Tehran Flights - Aviation Iran". 30 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Vosler, Kent D. (1983). <0027:dspatu>2.3.co;2 "Diving: Diving strength program at the University of Florida". National Strength & Conditioning Association Journal. 5 (6): 27. doi:10.1519/0744-0049(1983)005<0027:dspatu>2.3.co;2. ISSN 0744-0049.
  15. ↑ Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ "foreign hotels opeing in iran - Google Search". www.google.com.pk.
  17. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Buta Airways updates W17 operations".
  18. ↑ chamwings.com - Where we fly retrieved 9 September 2018
  19. ↑ Flightradar24. "Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!". Flightradar24.
  20. ↑ Liu, Jim (6 February 2018). "Iran Air resumes Azerbaijan service from late-Jan 2018". Routesonline. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Iran Air plans Paris CDG launch in S18".
  23. 1 2 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Iran Air files network expansion in S18".
  24. ↑ Flightradar24. "Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!". Flightradar24.
  25. ↑ Flightradar24. "Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!". Flightradar24.
  26. ↑ Flightradar24. "Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!". Flightradar24.
  27. ↑ Liu, Jim. "Mahan Air schedules Baku launch in Feb 2017".
  28. ↑ "Tehran – Barcelona Service Starts in June 2017". Aviation Iran. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  29. ↑ "Iranian airline to launch Tehran-Lahore flights from Dec 18".
  30. ↑ "Aviation Iran on Twitter". March 2018.
  31. ↑ "Air Network - Nouvelair". www.nouvelair.com.
  32. ↑ "Qeshm Air Plans Launch of Brussels Service And 'Media WiFi' - Aviation Iran". 7 May 2017.
  33. ↑ "Qeshm Air vanaf 27 juni tussen Brussel en Teheran - Flightlevel". 14 June 2017.
  34. 1 2 "Images" (JPG). www.qeshm-air.com.
  35. ↑ Air, Syria. "Syria Air > Tehran - Moscow". www.syriaair.com.
  36. ↑ Inc., Google,. "Taban Air starts Moscow-Teheran operations from Sheremetyevo airport — Sheremetyevo International Airport". www.svo.aero.
  37. ↑ "Archived copy". ۱۳۹۵/۱۲/۲۸ - ۱۳:۰۰. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  38. ↑ "Iranian Airliner Crashes in Northwest, Killing 168". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  • "Monthly flight plan" (in Persian). Imam Khomenini International Airport official website. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
  • Airport information for OIIE at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.

Media related to Imam Khomeini International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.