Taba International Airport

Taba International Airport (Arabic: مطار طابا الدولي‎) (IATA: TCP, ICAO: HETB) is an international airport located on the Sinai Plateau,[3] with an elevation of 2,470 ft,[4] and serves Taba, Egypt. It has only one gate from which mainly charter flights operate. The Taba VOR-DME (Ident: TBA) is located 0.43 nautical miles off the threshold of runway 22.[5][6]

Taba International Airport

مطار طابا الدولي
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorGovernment
ServesTaba, Egypt
LocationTaba
Elevation AMSL2,415 ft / 736 m
Coordinates29°35′16″N 34°46′41″E
Map
TCP
Location of airport in Sinai
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04L/22R 4,000 13,123 Asphalt
04R/22L
(closed)		 4,000 13,123 Asphalt
Source: DAFIF[1] GCM[2]

History

The airport was constructed by Israel in 1972 during its occupation of Sinai following the Six-Day War. Known as the Etzion Air Force Base,[7] it was demilitarized in 1979 with the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Then Israel's "Golden Eagle", "Phoenix", and "Smashing Parrot" squadrons moved out and the land there was restored to Egyptian control.[8]

A condition of that peace treaty allows tourists to visit certain areas in Egypt, near Taba, for up to 14 days, without a visa. So from Israel and Jordan, travelers and tourists cross the border at Taba, in buses to visit resorts.[9] Egyptian taxis can take fares up to the Israel border but no further.[10]

The airport is located 13 kilometers from Taba and 30 kilometers from Taba Heights, near El Nakb, and adjacent with Eilat, Israel. The airport was named El Nakb Airport. A new terminal building and night lighting[11] was added and the airport was then renamed Taba International Airport in November 2000.[3]

The airport receives charter flights.[12] Traffic at the airport declined considerably. In 2014, the airport served 41,142 and in 2015, only 13,488 (a 67.2% decline).[13] In 2016, it was announced that Thales Group would be modernizing Air Traffic Management at Taba International Airport.[14]

In May 2018, it was announced charter flights to the airport would resume, initially with flights from Poland and then from the Czech Republic.[15][16]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Blue Panorama Airlines Seasonal charter: Katowice,[17] Vilnius[18]
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Prague[19]
Smartwings Slovakia Charter: Bratislava[20]
Smartwings Poland Seasonal charter: Katowice,[21] Warsaw–Chopin[21][16]

See also

References
  1. Airport information for HETB at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
  2. Airport information for TCP at Great Circle Mapper.
  3. "Tours in Egypt- Discover Taba". Always Egypt. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016.
  4. "Israel Air Force". Aeroflight. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009.
  5. TBA VOR Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  6. SkyVector Aeronautical Charts Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Schubert, Frank N. Building Air Bases in the Negev: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Israel 1979-1982 (PDF). p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 December 2016.
  8. "Bases". The Israeli Air Force. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
  9. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Egypt. DK. 2 February 2016. ISBN 9781465453204.
  10. "Taba International Airport". Airport Authority. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017.
  11. DGS Heathrow Reference Catalogue Idman AFL (PDF). Safe Gate. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 November 2016.
  12. Smith, Oliver (4 May 2011). "Taba Heights, Egypt: the perfect break" (Travel). Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  13. "Egypt: air travel's sensitivity to geopolitical events shows in falling international seat numbers". Centre for Aviation. 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  14. "Thales Modernises Air Traffic Management at Egypt's Hurghada and Taba International Airports". Thales Group. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  15. Al-Aees, Shaimaa (15 May 2018). "Tourism investors present recommendations to parliament's tourism, civil aviation committee to develop sector". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  16. "Taba, Egypt, to resume charter flights in mid-4Q18". ch-aviation.com. 11 October 2018.
  17. "Pasazer.com: Blue Panorama zbazuje w Polsce dwie maszyny. Obsłuży rejsy dla Itaki". Pasazer.com.
  18. "Taba". itaka.lt.
  19. "Taba". cedok.cz.
  20. "Travel Service Slovensko adds Bratislava – Taba from May 2019". routesonline.com. 3 May 2019.
  21. "air and charter tickets". itaka.pl.
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