Tripoli International Airport
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
No issues specified. Please specify issues, or remove this template. |
Tripoli International Airport مطار طرابلس العالمي | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  TIP Location within Libya | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Statistics (2008) | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: | |||||||||||||||
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.[1][2] 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.[needs update][3]
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).[2] 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.
The airport closed 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 officially reopened on 11 October 2011[6].
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.[4][5] The airport was renovated for national and international air travel in September 1978.[6] The existing international terminal was designed and built from a masterplan developed by Alexander Gibb.[7]
Facilities
 |
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
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).[1] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[1] 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.[10]
Airlines and destinations
 | This article possibly contains unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. (September 2011) |
Note: All commercial flights were suspended until further notice due to the Libyan civil war.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Afriqiyah Airways | Abidjan, Accra, Amsterdam, Bamako, Bangui, Beijing-Capital, Benghazi, Brussels, Cairo, 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 |
| Air Algérie | Algiers |
| Air Malta | Malta [resumes 30 October] |
| Alajnihah Airways | Benghazi |
| Alitalia | Rome-Fiumicino [resumes 2 November][11] |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna [resumes 1 December] |
| BMI | London-Heathrow [resumes 30 October] |
| British Airways | London-Heathrow [resumes 25 March 2012] |
| Buraq Air | Aleppo, Alexandria-El Nouhza, Benghazi, Cairo, Istanbul-Atatürk, Beida, Rabat, Sabha, Sarajevo, Tunis |
| EgyptAir | Cairo |
| Emirates | Dubai [resumes 26 March 2012] |
| Libyan Airlines | Alexandria-El Nouhza, Algiers, Amman-Queen Alia, Ankara, Athens, Beida, Benghazi, Cairo, Casablanca, Damascus, Dubai, Ghadames, Ghat, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kiev-Borispyl, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Malta, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino, Sabha, Sirte, Tobruk, Tunis |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt [resumes 1 November] |
| Malév Hungarian Airlines | Budapest [resumes 24 October] |
| Nayzak Air Transport | Benghazi, Beida, Sabha, Tunis |
| Royal Jordanian | Amman-Queen Alia [resumes 30 October] |
| Tunisair | 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. [12]
- 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. [13]
- 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. [14]
- 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.[15]
- 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.[16][17][18] Some reports mention an additional 2 aircraft destroyed , including 1 Afriqiyah Airbus A330.[19] A single Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 was damaged by gunfire.[20]
See also
{{{inline}}}
References
 |
- ^ a b c (20 May 2008). Endres, Gunter (20 May 2008). "Libya To Restructure Air Transport Sector". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
- ^ a b (4 September 2009)."Afriqiyah Helps Connect Libya with More Countries; New Tripoli Terminals Being Built". anna.aero. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- ^ Gavlak, Dale (27 August 2010). "The 'New Dubai'? Libya Open for Business". Associated Press (via Google News). Retrieved 28 August 2010.
- ^ [1]. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
- ^ [2]. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
- ^ "Tripoli International Airport". LYCAA. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
- ^ [dead link] [3]. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
- ^ [dead link] "TAV To Build International Airport at Libya's Capital". Turkish Daily News. 22 August 2007.
- ^ [clarification needed] Flying Away, (12 February 2008)"وضع حجر الأساس لصالة ركاب مطار طرابلس العالمي الجديد " (in Arabic). flyingaway.com. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
- ^ (27 August 2009). "Tripoli Makes Up for Lost Time in Construction Sector". MEED (from BDP Project Logistics). Retrieved 22 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Alitalia-to-resume-flights-to-Tripoli-20110930
- ^ "ASN Aircraft Accident Canadair C-4 Argonaut G-ALHL Tripoli-Idris Airport (TIP)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft Accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 HL7328 Tripoli". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft Accident Boeing 727-2L5 5A-DIA Tripoli International Airport". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
- ^ Staff (12 May 2010). "Plane Crash in Libya 'Kills More than 100'". BBC News. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "5A-IAY Hull-Loss Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ "5A-DLZ Criminal Occurrence Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ^ [4]. flightglobal.com.
- ^ Salama, Vivian (26 August 2011). "Tripoli Airport Attacked by Qaddafi Forces". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ [unreliable source?][5]. (via Facebook).
External links
- Template:WAD
- Airport information for HLLT at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- Current weather for HLLT at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for TIP at Aviation Safety Network