| Imam Khomeini International Airport فرودگاه بینالمللی امام خمینی |
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| IATA: IKA – ICAO: OIIE | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | ? | ||
| Location | Tehran, Iran | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 3,305 ft / 1,007 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 11L/29R | 13,772 | 4,198 | Asphalt |
| 11R/29L Closed |
13,940 | 4,249 | Asphalt |
- For the similarly named Swedish furniture company, see IKEA.
- For the company IKA, see Industrias Kaiser Argentina.
Imam Khomeini International Airport (IATA: IKA, ICAO: OIIE) (Persian: فرودگاه بینالمللی امام خمینی) is located in Tehran, Iran. The airport is located about 30 kilometers south of the city. It was designed to replace Mehrabad International Airport, which is in the west of the city, now inside the city boundaries. The airport, originally designated as Ahmadabad, is now named after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution in 1979. The Airport's Second terminal is currently under construction. It is confirmed to be a bigger and equally dominant terminal, alhough dates of completion are yet to be announced.
Contents |
History
The construction began before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The original design was based on Dallas Love Field . The original designers were TAMS, a consortium of U.S. designers. A local joint venture was formed and was called TAMS-AFA to carry out the full design and supervision of construction. After the Islamic Revolution, the project was abandoned until the government of Iran decided to design and build the airport using local know-how. The French firm ADP was selected to head the local designers and engineering firms. A turnkey design and build contract was awarded to a local general contractor company, Kayson, to carry out and manage the construction. After two years this contract was abandoned and was awarded to a Bonyad, the Mostazafan & Janbazan (M&J Foundation), a public cartel. After construction of the main terminal was finished by M&J Foundation, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization decided to turn the management of operations along with the construction of the second terminal to the TAV (Tepe-Akfen-Vie) consortium of two Turkish (Tepe and Akfen) and an Austrian (Vie) companies. The original opening was scheduled for February 1 2004, the onset of the auspicious 'Ten-Day Dawn' (February 1-11) celebrations, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. There were numerous issues surrounding the construction of the airport including the supply of fuel to the new airport, and a delay in signing a deal with the Iranian oil ministry forced a delay in the opening of the airport until May 8 2004. Just prior to the opening on May 8, two local airlines refused to switch to the new airport. Economic Hayat-e No daily quoted Ali Abedzadeh, director of semi-privately-owned Iran Aseman Airlines, as saying "We are not flying from an airport run by foreigners". TAV officials were ordered to withdraw their personnel and equipment from the airport on May 7 2004, and operations were handed over to Iran Air. "I think they (the military) were given false reports that the Turks were still on the site, while they had all evacuated the airport by Friday," airport manager Hussein Pirouzi said. However, on May 8, a few hours after the opening of airport, the Revolutionary Guards of the Iranian Armed Forces closed it, citing security fears over the use of foreigners in the running of the airport. Only one Emirates flight from Dubai was allowed to land. The second flight from Dubai, which was an Iran Air flight, was forced to land in Isfahan International Airport, because the Mehrabad Airport did not allow it to land there after the Imam Khomeini airport was closed by the armed forces. The rest of the flights were diverted to Mehrabad. On May 11, in a meeting of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Turkish expressed uneasiness about the actions of the Iranian military. The airport reopened on May 13, as deputy head of Iran's Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier-General Alireza Afshar stated "because foreign companies will no longer be in charge of the airport's operation, security obstacles are removed." TAV officials, who had agreed to clear out for two weeks for the dispute to be settled, also stated that they believed the memorandum of understanding they signed with the Iranian government last year to operate the airport's Terminal 1 is still in effect. Further complicating matters, on April 29 2005, the United Kingdom and Canada warned its citizens against using the airport due to alleged safety concerns concerning the runway, which has been claimed to have been built over ancient qanats (subterranean waterways) [1] [2]. Iranian officials countered these claims by stating that there are no safety issues and that the International Civil Aviation Organisation had inspected and approved the airport. The airport has been criticised for some of its design, mainly the low ceilings in some areas and insufficient number of washrooms, which are now stretched to their limit. Also, the road leading to the airport lacks adequate signage, and the only way to get to the airport is via the 2-hour drive from city on a taxi. According to the airport's official website, as of July 25 2007, 80 percent of those surveyed have ranked the route to the airport as poor or very poor. The second terminal of the airport is currently still under construction.
Transfer of flights from Mehrabad
On October 26 2007 it was announced that as of October 30 2007 at 12:00 pm all international flights exept from those bound to Damascus, Jeddah and Medina have been transferred to the Imam Khomeini International Airport and the IKIA has become Tehran's fully operational international airport.[1] The change of international flights from Mehrabad International Airport to IKA has been gradual, starting with flights to countries bordering the Persian Gulf. All flights have now been moved to IKA except local flights and flights to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah.[2]
Airport Tax
Airport tax (Avarez) for every Iranian Passport holder since 2005 has been changed. The fee, regardless of age, is 150,000 Iranian rials for the first time in a year (starting from Farvardin 1st, equivalent to March 21st, and ending the last day of Esfand, equivalent to March 20th) and 200,000 Rials for the second time or more. Note that this is for flights to most countries. However, the tax is 300,000 Rial for the first time in a year and 40,000 Rial for the second time in a year for travelers to England, UAE and Turkey. 9,200 Rials is roughly equivalent to US$1. The previous fee was less and also, if a family member was on the same passport under a certain age, no fee was required. It has recently been reported that Iranian citizens who reside outside of Iran are no longer required to pay this Airport Tax.
Airlines and destinations
All destinations in bold are operated at Mehrabad Airport during Hajj seasons:
Terminal 1
- Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
- Air Arabia (Sharjah)
- Ariana Afghan Airlines (Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif)
- Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa)
- Armavia (Yerevan)
- Austrian Airlines (Vienna)
- Azerbaijan Airlines (Baku)
- bmi (London Heathrow)
- Conviasa (Caracas)
- Caspian Airlines (Budapest, Damascus, Dubai, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Minsk, Yerevan)
- China Southern Airlines (Beijing, Urumqi)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Eram Air (Damascus)
- Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
- Gulf Air (Bahrain)
- Iran Air (Amsterdam, Ankara, Bahrain, Baku, Caracas, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Damascus, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kabul, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Madrid-Barajas, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tashkent, Vienna)
- Iraqi Airways (Baghdad)
- Iran Aseman Airlines (Bishkek, Dubai, Dushanbe)
- Jazeera Airways (Kuwait)
- Kish Air (Damascus, Dubai, Istanbul-Atatürk)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
- Mahan Air (Arbil, Almaty, Bahrain, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Dammam, Damascus, Delhi, Dubai, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kochi, Lahore, Seoul-Incheon, Sharjah, Tokyo-Narita)
- Onur Air (Ankara, Istanbul-Atatürk, Konya)
- Pegasus Airlines (Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Konya)
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Madinah)
- Syrian Arab Airlines (Damascus)
- Taban Airlines (Almaty, Damascus, Dubai, Konya)
- Tajik Air (Dushanbe)
- Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)
- UM Airlines (Kiev-Boryspil)
Proposed future Terminal 2 listing
All destinations in bold italic are regional destinations proposed to be operated alongside Mehrabad Airport. All destinations in bold are currently operated in Mehrabad during Hajj seasons:
- Iran Aseman Airlines (Abadan, Ahvaz, Bam, Gorgan, Nowshahr, Sanandaj, Yazd)
- Caspian Airlines (Budapest, Damascus, Dubai, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Minsk, Yerevan)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Iran Air (Amsterdam, Ankara, Bahrain, Baku, Beijing, Caracas, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Mashhad, Isfahan, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kabul, Karachi, Kish Island, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London-Heathrow, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Mumbai, Paris-Orly, Rome-Fiumicino, Shiraz, Seoul-Incheon, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tabriz, Tashkent, Tokyo-Narita, Vienna)
- Mahan Air (Arbil, Almaty, Asalouyeh, Bahrain, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Dammam, Damascus, Delhi, Dubai, Iranshahr, Isfahan, Istanbul-Atatürk, Jeddah, Kochi, Lahore, Mashhad, Seoul-Incheon [begins January 2], Sharjah, Tabriz, Tokyo-Narita [begins January 2])
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
References
- Monthly flight plan (Persian). Imam Khomenini International Airport official website. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
- Airport information for OIIE at World Aero Data
- ^ "Hot news", IKIA.ir, October 26 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
- ^ Rezaee, Siavash. "President of National Civil Aviation Organization in an interview with "Iran": small airlines will be eliminated", Iran-e Eqtesadi, 2007-10-30, p. 2. (Persian)
