Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport
Cairo International Airport; مطار القاهرة الدولي
IATA: CAI – ICAO: HECA
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
Runways
	Sources: Airport website and DAFIF

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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 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. 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). According to Airports Council International statistics, of the top 100 airports in the world, CAI reported the highest growth rate of any airport in 2008.

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.

[edit] Terminals

Cairo Airport terminal 1 at night.

Picture shows seven EgyptAir planes, one EgyptAir Express and one Air France, at terminal 1.

[edit] Terminal 1

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 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Terminal 2

Terminal 2 is mainly used by european and Far Eastern airlines, airlines from the Gulf region, and sub-Saharan Africa but excluding Egypt Air.

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.

[edit] 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 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 tranfer of its operations (international and domestic) into the state of the art terminal on 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 took 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. The airline (along with its domestic subsidiary EgyptAir Express) moved all domestic operations to the new building first followed by international operations and finally those of Star Alliance members. See below for a detailed breakdown of each phase:

EgyptAir and EgyptAir Express phased transfer into the new terminal:

USA Flights
- 27APR09: New York (JFK)
Domestic (Flights Egypt)
- 18MAY09:Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh
- 20MAY09:Abu Simbel, Alexandria-El Nouzha, Aswan, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Assiut, 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, Medinah, 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-Trudeau, Nairobi, Tokyo-Narita,
- 17JUN09: Amsterdam, Asmara, Benghazi, Lisbon, Beijing, Tunis
- 18JUN09: Malta, Osaka

Other Star Alliance carriers' transfer into Terminal 3:

04MAY09: Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss International
11MAY09: bmi
17JUL09: Singapore Airlines
TBD: Turkish Airlines

Non-Star Alliance carrier(s) transfer into Terminal 3:

06JUL09: Aegean Airlines (future Star Alliance member)

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), 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.

[edit] 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.

Construction of a new fourth runway for completion in late 2009, south of the existing airfield.

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.

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.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Cairo Airport arrival hall

Cairo Airport bridge