Tripoli International Airport

This article is about the airport in Tripoli, Libya. For the airport in Tripoli, Greece, see Tripolis Airport.

Tripoli International Airport مطار طرابلس العالمي
IATA: TIP – ICAO: HLLT
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau
Serves		Tripoli, Libya
Location		Tripoli, Libya
Hub for		• Afriqiyah Airways  • Buraq Air  • Libyan Airlines
Elevation AMSL		263 ft / 80 m
Coordinates		32°40′10″N 013°09′24″E
Map
TIP Location within Libya
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
09/27	3,600	11,811	Asphalt/Concrete
18/36	2,235	7,333	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Passengers			3,070,200
Source: List of the busiest airports in Africa

The Tripoli International Airport (IATA: TIP, ICAO: HLLT) (Arabic: مطار طرابلس العالمي) is an international airport that serves Tripoli, Libya. It is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the nation's largest airport.^{[citation needed]} Located in the town of Ben Ghashir 34 kilometres (21 miles) south of the city centre, the airport is a hub for Libyan Airlines; it is also a hub for Afriqiyah Airways and Buraq Air.

With the closure of the National Terminal as part of the construction of the new airport, all flights, international and domestic, leave the airport from the main International Passenger Terminal. The terminal capacity is 3 million passengers a year. The airport handled 2.1 million passengers in 2007, and over 3 million passengers in 2008. Two new terminals were to be built within the next several years which would bring the total capacity of the airport to 20 million – the first new terminal was due to open by March 2011.

Libyan Airlines operates the most weekly departures from the airport at 98; it is followed by Afriqiyah Airways (83 flights), Buraq Air (42 flights), EgyptAir (14 flights) and Alitalia (14 flights). Transport to and from Tripoli city center usually involves taking a taxi or shared taxi. Tour operators offer coaches to and from the airport connecting it with numerous hotels in the city centre.

History

During World War II, the airfield was used by the British Royal Air Force and was named RAF Castel Benito later changing to RAF Idris in 1952. In the 1950s and 1960s the airport was named Tripoli Idris International Airport. The airport was renovated for national and international air travel in September 1978. The existing international terminal was designed and built from a masterplan developed by Alexander Gibb.

The airport closed from March 2011 to October 2011 as a result of United Nations Security Council establishing a no-fly zone over Libya.

Anti-Gaddafi forces were reported to have captured the airport during their advance on Tripoli on 21 August 2011.^{[citation needed]} The airport was officially reopened on 11 October 2011.

Facilities

The entrance to the main international terminal

The airport has one main passenger terminal that serves international and domestic departures and arrivals. Check-in and arrival facilities for domestic flights are in the same building as the international terminal but in a different area. The terminal hall is a five-story building with an area of 33,000 square metres (360,000 sq ft), and is capable of handling three million passengers annually. Check-in facilities are all located on the ground floor. The departure gates are located on the floor above as is the duty-free section. Beside this is a prayer room and a first-class lounge which serves business class and above on almost all airlines operating from the airport.

The airport operates 24 hours a day. There is no overnight accommodation at the airport but there are plans to build an airport hotel to serve transit flyers. A restaurant can be found on the fourth floor of the international terminal.

The airport's Cargo-handling facilities include cranes, heavy fork lifts, roller pallet lifts and conveyor belts. There is twenty-four-hour fire protection at the airport with 112 trained personnel working at the fire station.

Future plans

Airport expansion

A Libyan Airlines jet taxis in the international terminal

In September 2007, the Libyan government announced a project to upgrade and expand the airport. The eventual total cost of the project, contracted to a joint venture between Brazil's Odebrecht, TAF Construction of Turkey, Consolidated Contractors Company of Lebanon and Vinci Construction of France, is LD2.54 billion ($2.1 billion). The project is to construct two new terminals at the airport (an East Terminal and a West Terminal) on either side of the existing International Terminal. Each of the new terminals will be 162,000 square metres (1,740,000 sq ft) in size, and collectively they will have a capacity of 20 million passengers and a parking lot for 4,400 vehicles. French company Aéroports de Paris designed the terminals, which are expected to serve 100 aircraft simultaneously. Work started in October 2007 on the first new terminal. The initial capacity will be 6 million passengers when the first module comes into operation. Preparation is also underway for the second new terminal, which will eventually bring the total capacity to 20 million passengers; the completed airport is expected to strengthen Libya's position as an African aviation hub. Although the government identified Tripoli airport as a "fast track" project in 2007, leading to construction work starting before the design was fully developed, the project will not be finished until at least May 2011. The cost of the project has also been rising, leading to an intense round of renegotiations.

Airlines and destinations

Note: All commercial flights were suspended due to the 2011 Libyan civil war. So far, eleven airlines (Air Malta, Alitalia, Afriqiyah Airways, EgyptAir, Libyan Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, Tunisair and Turkish Airlines) have resumed service. Etihad Airways is the only carrier to launch new service.

Current service

Airlines	Destinations
Air Algerie	Algiers
Afriqiyah Airways	Benghazi, Istanbul-Atatürk, Cairo, Tunis
Air France	Paris-Charles De Gaulle [resumes 27 March 2012]
Air Malta	Malta
Alitalia	Rome-Fiumicino
Austrian Airlines	Vienna [resumes 25 March 2012]
BMI	London-Heathrow [resumes 25 March 2012]
British Airways	London-Heathrow [resumes 1 May 2012]
EgyptAir	Cairo
Emirates	Dubai [resumes 26 March 2012]
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi
KLM	Amsterdam [resumes 25 March 2012]
Libyan Airlines	Amman, Benghazi, Cairo, Malta, Sebha, Tunis
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Qatar Airways	Doha
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca
Royal Jordanian	Amman-Queen Alia
Tunisair	Tunis
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk

• ^Note 1 : Qatar Airways's flight from Tripoli to Doha makes a stop in Alexandria. Qatar Airways, however, does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Tripoli and Alexandria.

Pre civil war service that has not resumed

Airlines	Destinations
Afriqiyah Airways	Abidjan, Accra, Amsterdam, Bamako, Bangui, Beijing-Capital, Brussels, Cotonou, Dhaka, Dakar, Douala, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Kinshasa, Lagos, Lomé, London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa, N'Djamena, Nouakchott, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino
Alajnihah Airways	Benghazi
Bulgaria Air	Sofia
Buraq Air	Aleppo, Alexandria-El Nouhza, Benghazi, Cairo, Istanbul-Atatürk, Beida, Rabat, Sabha, Sarajevo, Tunis
Jat Airways	Belgrade
Libyan Airlines	Alexandria-El Nouhza, Algiers, Ankara, Athens, Beirut, Beida, Casablanca, Damascus, Dubai, Ghadames, Ghat, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kiev-Borispyl, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino, Sirte, Tobruk
Nayzak Air Transport	Benghazi, Beida, Sabha, Tunis

Accidents and incidents

• On 21 September 1955, British Overseas Airways Corporation Canadair C-4 Argonaut traveling from Rome, Italy, to Tripoli crashed on its fourth landing attempt in poor visibility and strong winds. Fifteen of forty-seven occupants died after the aircraft descended too low, struck trees approximately 1,200 feet short of runway 11 and crash landed.
• On 27 July 1989, Korean Air Flight 803 (McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30) from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Tripoli. The aircraft initially departed Seoul, South Korea, on a flight to Tripoli with intermediate stops at Bangkok, Thailand; and Jeddah. Visibility was varying between 100 and 800 feet and the runway 27 ILS had been reported unserviceable. On final approach to runway 27 the aircraft crashed short of the runway, striking four houses and a number of cars. Damage– total destruction, Injuries– multiple, Deaths- 79 (4 ground fatalities, 3 of 18 crew, 72 of 181 passengers), Airframe– written off.
• On 22 December 1992, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 1103 Boeing 727 took off from Benina International Airport near Benghazi, Libya, on a domestic flight to Tripoli. At an altitude of 3,500 ft (1,067 m) during the aircraft's approach to Tripoli airport, it collided with a Libyan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23, causing both aircraft to crash. The accident killed all 157 passengers and crew on Flight 1103 and both crewmembers of the MiG-23.
• On 12 May 2010, Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771, an Airbus A330-200 crashed on approach to the airport on a flight from OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa. 103 of 104 people on board were killed.
• On 25 and 26 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli, Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A300B4-620 5A-IAY and Libyan Arab Airlines Airbus A300B4-622 were destroyed in fighting between pro- and anti-Gadaffi forces. Some reports mention an additional 2 aircraft destroyed, including 1 Afriqiyah Airbus A330. A single Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 was damaged by gunfire.
• On December 10, 2011, a gun battle between Libya's new army and a powerful militia took place at the airport.

See also

• List of airports in Libya

External links

• Airport information for HLLT at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
• Airport information for HLLT at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
• Current weather for HLLT at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for TIP at Aviation Safety Network