Tripoli International Airport

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Tripoli International Airport
مطار طرابلس العالمي
IATA: TIP - ICAO: HLLT
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau
Serves Tripoli
Elevation AMSL 263 ft (80 m)
Coordinates 32°40′10″N, 13°09′24″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 11,811 3,600 Asphalt/Concrete
18/36 7,333 2,235 Asphalt

Tripoli International Airport (IATA: TIP, ICAO: HLLT) (Arabic: مطار طرابلس العالمي) serves Tripoli, Libya. It is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the nation's largest airport. Located in the town of Ben Ghashir 34km south of the city centre, Tripoli International is a hub for Libyan Arab Airlines. The airport is also a hub for newly formed Libyan airline, Afriqiyah Airways.

Most flights leave Tripoli International Airport from the main passenger terminal.

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.

Contents

[edit] History

The airport was completed and opened for national and international air travel in September 1978.[1]

[edit] Facilities

There is one main passenger terminal in Tripoli International Airport. This serves both domestic and international departures and arrivals. The terminal is a five story building with an area of 33,000 square km, and is capable of handling 3 million passengers annually. Check-in facilities are all located on the ground floor of the terminal. 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 in the airport but there are plans to build an airport hotel to serve transit flyers. A restaurant can be found on the fourth floor in the main passenger terminal. 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.

[edit] Future plans

[edit] Airport Expansion

A Libyan Arab Airlines jet taxis in the current passenger terminal
Enlarge
A Libyan Arab Airlines jet taxis in the current passenger terminal

Tripoli International is to be expanded and modernised. The airport is to get a new terminal and a completely new airport is to be built at Libya's second largest city Benghazi.

Development of airports in tourist destinations such as Ghat and Ghadames has also started, and there are major expansion plans for the airport in Sebha, in the south of the country, which is important for international traffic between Europe and Africa.

At Tripoli airport, the plan is to construct a new terminal, with a capacity of five million passengers a year. Expansion will continue until a passenger capacity of twelve million passengers per year is reached. The first phase of the project is to be finalized within two and a half years with construction underway since mid-2006.

Libya's CAA has financed the expansion at Tripoli airport itself, but the backing of foreign investors for the new airport at Benghazi is needed. Proposals have been put forward by international companies on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

[edit] Airlines

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Tripoli International Airport", LYCAA, Accessed Nov 1, 2006

[edit] External links

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