Erbil International Airport

Erbil International Airport (IATA: EBL, ICAO: ORER), is the main airport of the city of Erbil in Iraq. It is administered by the Iraqi Government under a committee consisting of the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region, Nechervan Idris Barzani, and is one of two international airports (the other being Sulaymaniyah Airport), with a third in Duhok being under construction. The new modern airport opened in 2010. The airport has one of the longest runways in the world (4800m).

Erbil International Airport

Firokaxaney Nêwdewletî Hewlêr

فڕۆکه‌خانه‌ی نێوده‌وڵه‌تی هه‌ولێر
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorIraqi Government[1]
ServesErbil, Iraq
LocationAnkawa
Hub for
Elevation AMSL1,363 ft / 415 m
Coordinates36°14′15″N 043°57′47″E
Websiteerbilairport.com
Map
ORER
Location in Kurdistan Region
ORER
ORER (Iraq)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 4,800 15,748 Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Cargo33,527
Total passengers1,565,998

History

The airport was built at the beginning of the 1970s as an Iraqi military base. The airstrip was used as a military base until 1991 by the Ba'ath Party regime as a result of United Nations Security Council establishing a no-fly zone over Northern Iraq. After the 2003 Iraq War, the Kurdistan Regional Government took over administrative rule of the region. On 26 May 2005, the airport was given the ICAO airport code, ORER. Endowed with natural resources including oil, natural gas and other minerals, investment in Iraq has increased since 2005 and the city of Erbil has been the recipient of foreign investments. Due to the growing need for safe access into the country, the Regional Government invested US$500 million in the construction of a modern airport.

Old airport

The old Erbil airport covered 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft), and was divided into departure and arrival halls. It had three gates and a 2,800 m (9,200 ft) long runway with an ILS system.[2] The Kurdistan International Bank, a Tourism Information office, the airline companies offices, duty-free shops, a cafeteria, and the Korek Telecom office were located inside the terminal.

The warehouse offered cargo space amounting to 4,320 m2 (46,500 sq ft) and consisted of an import and an export section. The cargo was handled by Dnata, a Dubai-based company.[2]

New airport

A newly built, $US550 million airport was opened on 5 July 2005.[2][3] The new airport is next to the old airport (previously a military field) and has one of the world's longest runways, 4,800 m × 75 m (15,748 ft × 246 ft) and is equipped for ILS CAT II operations.[2] The airport's new terminal has duty-free shops and currency exchange offices.[4] The terminal also has CIP areas for business jets, and there is a VIP terminal for visiting dignitaries and diplomats[3] for the purpose of achieving international airport standards.[5]

In 2010 Erbil International Airport had the least expensive aviation fuel in Iraq (at 83 US cents per litre).[6]

From 29 September 2017, until 14 March 2018, following the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum, all commercial international flights were suspended.[7] The airport remained open for domestic, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic flights.[8]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

These are the airlines and destinations served from Erbil Airport:[9]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Sharjah
Aircompany Armenia Seasonal: Yerevan[10]
AnadoluJet Diyarbakir,[11] Gaziantep,[11] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[12]
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Azerbaijan Airlines Baku
Cham Wings Airlines Damascus[13]
Egyptair Cairo
Emirates Dubai–International
Fly Baghdad Ankara, Baghdad, Istanbul
flydubai Dubai–International[14]
FlyErbil Baku, Beirut, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Istanbul, Yerevan
flynas Jeddah[15]
Iraqi Airways Amman–Queen Alia, Ankara, Baghdad, Baku, Berlin–Tegel, Cairo, Copenhagen, Dubai–International, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London–Gatwick, Manchester, Munich
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mahan Air Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Middle East Airlines Beirut[16]
Onur Air Seasonal: Antalya[17]
Pegasus Airlines Ankara, Gaziantep,[18] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha[19]
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia
Saudia Jeddah[20]
SaudiGulf Airlines Medina[21]
SunExpress Deutschland Seasonal: Düsseldorf[22]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Seasonal: Antalya

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Coyne Airways Dubai–International
FitsAir Dubai–International
Royal Jordanian Cargo Amman–Queen Alia
Turkish Cargo Istanbul–Atatürk[23]

Statistics

Since its opening in 2006, the airport has seen increased traffic. Traffic was up 22% in 2010 and in 2011 demand was up 37% to just over 620,000 passengers. In the first four months of 2012 passenger numbers are up 52% with April setting a new record of 84,275 departing and arriving passengers.[24]

Annual Passenger & Cargo Traffic[25]
Year Passengers % Change Aircraft

movements

 % Change Cargo (MT) % Change
2006163,6194,894N/AN/A
2007275,183 68%9,815100.5%10,000
2008302,000 10%7,74521%14,500 45%
2009356,850 18%7,557 2.4%11,533 20%
2010449,536 26%7,235 4.2%10,848 6%
2011620,365 38%7,366 1.8%17,864 65%
2012947,600 53%9,021 22.4%27,488 54%
20131,193,783 26%12,229 35.5%38,571 40%
20141,565,998 31%16,218 32.6%33,527 13%
20151,665,701 6.3%18,864 16.3%22,742 32.1%
20161,814,272 8.9%19,080 1.1%23,462 3.1%
20171,606,531 11.4%15,294 19.8%17,574 25%
20181,533,863 4.5%15,562 1.7%16,505 6%

References
  1. "Kurdish government accepts Baghdad's conditions to end dispute". Arab News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. "Old & New". erbilairport.com.
  3. "A winning design". erbilairport.com. 26 May 2005.
  4. "Shops and Services". erbilairport.com.
  5. Erbil International. "Airport". www.erbilairport.com.
  6. EIA informs of one liter fuel in Erbil is $0.83
  7. Erbil International Airport. "Baghdad 'No fly Zone' looms for Kurdistan airports". erbilairport.com.
  8. "Iraqi govt enforces international flight ban in Kurdistan region - France 24". 29 September 2017.
  9. Erbil Airport Flight Schedule
  10. Liu, Jim (25 April 2019). "Armenia schedules new service to Iraq in S19". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. Liu, Jim. "Anadolu Jet adds Erbil service from late-March 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. Liu, Jim. "Turkish Airlines confirms AnadoluJet network transition from late-March 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  13. chamwings.com - Where we fly retrieved 9 September 2018
  14. Flydubai Flight. "Timetables". flydubai.
  15. Rudaw News. "First international flight lands at Erbil airport from Saudi after ban lifted". Rudaw.
  16. MEA. "Timetable". www.mea.com.lb.
  17. Liu, Jim. "Onur Air expands Iraq network in S19". Routesonline. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  18. "Pegasus Airlines expands Middle East network in 2Q19". Routesonline.
  19. DOH. "Booking". www.qatarairways.com.
  20. Al-awsat, Asharq. "Saudi Airlines to Launch Direct Flights to Erbil". aawsat.com.
  21. Liu, Jim. "SaudiGulf Airines files Iraq schedules from Dec 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  22. Liu, Jim. "SunExpress Germany adds Dusseldorf – Erbil service from June 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  23. "Turkish Airlines cargo 2015 winter schedule" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  24. Erbil International Airport (13 June 2012). "Growing by 50% in 2012; Mahan Air, Qatar Airways and Transavia.com new this year". anna.aero.
  25. "Airport Statistics". erbilairport.com.
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