Imam Khomeini International Airport facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport
فرودگاه بینالمللی امام خمینی
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Iran | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Imam Khomeini Airport City Company | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Tehran metropolitan area | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Vahnabad, Tehran, Iran | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | 30 April 2005 | ||||||||||||||
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| Time zone | IRST (UTC+3:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,007 m / 3,305 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°24′58″N 051°09′08″E / 35.41611°N 51.15222°E | ||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (21 March 2018–20 March 2019) | |||||||||||||||
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Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (IATA: IKA, ICAO: OIIE) is the main international airport for Tehran, the capital city of Iran. It is located about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Tehran. The airport is named after Ruhollah Khomeini, who was Iran's first supreme leader.
This large airport covers an area of 13,400 hectares (about 33,000 acres). It has two terminals and two runways. All international flights to Tehran use this airport. Domestic flights, which are flights within Iran, use Mehrabad Airport instead. Imam Khomeini Airport is a major hub for four different airlines. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in Iran for passenger traffic.
The idea for this airport came about before the 1979 revolution because the old Mehrabad Airport was getting too crowded. It was planned to open in 2004. However, there were some delays and disagreements. The airport finally reopened in April 2005. A second terminal was finished in 2019.
Contents
Where is Imam Khomeini Airport?
Imam Khomeini International Airport is located southwest of Tehran. It is near the area of Vahnabad. The airport is built on a large piece of land. This land was chosen to allow for future growth and expansion.
A Brief History of the Airport
Building the Airport
The Iranian government decided to build a new airport for Tehran before the 1979 revolution. At that time, Tehran was a very important city in the Middle East. Air travel was growing fast at the existing Mehrabad Airport. The new airport was first called Tehran International Airport. Construction began in 1977, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Tehran.
The revolution and the war with Iraq caused many delays. Work on the airport's runways started again in 1989. Because of the war's impact and Iran's isolation, other projects were prioritized. In 1995, a French company, Aéroports de Paris, became the main consultant. They helped design the new terminal. By 2000, the airport was renamed after Ruhollah Khomeini.
First Opening and Challenges
In 2003, a group of companies from Turkey and Austria, called Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV), agreed to manage the airport. They also planned to build a second terminal. This deal showed a new approach to foreign investment in Iran. The airport was officially opened on February 1, 2004. The goal was for it to handle all international flights to Tehran. Officials hoped it would become a major airport in the Middle East.
However, some people in Iran were against the deal with TAV. They were concerned about the company's connections. On May 7, 2004, the military asked TAV staff to leave the airport. Management was then given to Iran Air. The next day, the first international flight landed. But hours later, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps closed the airport. They said it was unsafe and not right for foreigners to run Iran's largest airport. The agreement with TAV was later cancelled.
Second Opening and Growth
On April 30, 2005, Imam Khomeini Airport reopened. It was now managed by a group of four Iranian airlines. These were Caspian Airlines, Iran Aseman Airlines, Kish Air, and Mahan Air. The first flight to arrive was from Dubai. At first, the airport only had flights to a few countries in the Middle East. By March 2008, all international flights, except for religious pilgrimage flights, had moved from Mehrabad to Imam Khomeini Airport.
Some major European airlines, like Air France and British Airways, started flying to Tehran again in 2016. However, they stopped their flights two years later. They said the flights were not making enough money. In June 2019, a new terminal called Salaam International Terminal was opened.
Airport Facilities
Imam Khomeini Airport is operated by the Imam Khomeini Airport City Company. This company is part of Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. The airport has two main terminals. Terminal 1 has a unique arc shape. A third terminal, called Iranshahr, is also being planned for the future.
The airport has two long runways for planes to take off and land:
- Runway 11L/29R: 4,198 meters (13,773 feet) long
- Runway 11R/29L: 4,092 meters (13,425 feet) long
One runway is partly concrete and partly asphalt. The other is entirely asphalt. In 2009, the airport got an instrument landing system. This system helps planes land safely, especially in bad weather. Imam Khomeini Airport was the first in Iran to have this technology.
In 2015, two international hotels opened at the airport. These were the Novotel and Ibis hotels. This was the first time an international hotel chain had entered Iran since the 1979 revolution. These hotels are now managed by Rexan International Airport Hotels and are called Rexan and Remis.
Airlines and Destinations
Many airlines fly to Imam Khomeini Airport. Most of these airlines are from Turkey and the Middle East. Some Western airlines, like Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, also fly here. The airport is a main hub for Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air, and Meraj Airlines.
As mentioned, all international flights to Tehran arrive at Imam Khomeini Airport. Flights connect Tehran to many cities in the Middle East and Asia. These include cities like Damascus, Guangzhou, and Mumbai. You can also fly to European cities like London and Moscow from here. In the year ending March 20, 2019, the airport served over 7.27 million passengers. It also handled 142,000 tonnes of cargo. About 47,000 planes took off or landed there.
Getting to the Airport
You can reach Imam Khomeini International Airport from Tehran using two major freeways: the Tehran–Qom Freeway and the Tehran–Saveh Freeway. The airport also has its own station on Line 1 of the Tehran Metro. This metro station opened in August 2017, making it easy to get to the airport by train.
Airport Incidents
Sadly, there have been a couple of serious incidents involving flights from this airport:
- On July 15, 2009, Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed shortly after takeoff. All 168 people on board died.
- On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down soon after leaving the airport. All 176 people on board were killed.
See also
- List of airports in Iran
