Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport

Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) (فرودگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی (ره
IATA: IKA ICAO: OIIE
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Iran Airports Company
Operator	Iran Civil Aviation Organization
Serves	Tehran, Iran
Location	Ahmadabad, Tehran Province
Opened	8 May 2004
Hub for	Iran Air Mahan Air
Time zone	IRST (UTC+3:30)
• Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+04:30)
Elevation AMSL	3,305 ft / 1,007 m
Coordinates	35°24′58″N 051°09′08″E / 35.41611°N 51.15222°E / 35.41611; 51.15222
Website	ikac.ir//
Map
IKA Location within Iran
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 11L/29R 13,772 4,198 Asphalt 11R/29L Closed 13,940 4,249 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Aircraft Movements 53,359 5.8% Passengers 7,821,369 8.0% Cargo (t) 148,020 9.5%
Source: Iran Airports Company[1]

Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport^[2] (Persian: فرودگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی‎‎) (IATA: IKA, ICAO: OIIE), also known as Tehran-IKIA or IKIA, is the main international airport of Iran, located 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the city of Tehran, near the localities of Robat Karim and Eslamshahr, on a 13,500-hectare (135 km²) site. Along with Mehrabad International Airport, it is one of the two major commercial airports serving Tehran and the busiest international air passenger gateway to Iran. As of December 2016, it serves international destinations in Asia and Europe. All domestic flights in and out of Tehran are currently served by Mehrabad Airport.

The airport features one passenger terminal, two parallel runways and several logistics and maintenance facilities. Operated by the Iran Airports Company, it's one of the home bases of Iran Air, Meraj Airlines, Mahan Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Qeshm Airlines, Taban Air, and Zagros Airlines.

History

Early planning and post-revolution stall

Construction of the airport began prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution. The original designers were Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton (TAMS), an American engineering and architectural consulting partnership. A local joint venture was formed between TAMS and local firm Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian Associates called TAMS-AFFA, to carry out the full design and supervision of construction. Following the Iranian revolution, however, the project was abandoned until the government of Iran decided to design and build the airport using local expertise.

Construction

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 Co., to carry out and manage the construction. After two years this contract was abandoned and was awarded to a bonyad, the Mostazafan Foundation.^[3]

Initial opening

Iran Air Airbus A300-600R, being refuelled at Imam Khomeini International Airport.

After construction of Terminal 1 was completed by the Mostazafan 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 consisting of two Turkish (Tepe and Akfen) and an Austrian (Vie) companies. The original opening was scheduled for 11 February 2004, the onset of the auspicious "Ten-Day Dawn" (1–11 February) 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 8 May 2004.

Just prior to the opening on 8 May, 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 7 May 2004, and operations were handed over to Iran Air. "I think they (the armed forces) were given false reports that the Turks were still on the site, while they had all evacuated the airport by Friday," airport manager Hossein Pirouzi said. However, on 8 May, 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 11 May, in a meeting of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Turkish expressed unease about the actions of the Iranian armed forces. The airport reopened on 13 May, 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."

Second opening

In April 2005 the $350 million Imam Khomeini International Airport was reopened under the management of a consortium of four local airlines—Mahan Air, Aseman, Caspian Airlines and Kish Air—although no formal contract appeared to have been awarded. Soon later management of the airport was transferred to the Iran Airports Company which in behalf of Iranian Ministry of Roads and Transportation is in charge of operating all civil and governmental Iranian airports except some belongs to special organizations like Oil ministry or Armed Forces.^[4]

Travel warnings

Mahan Air Airbus A340 parked at IKIA.

Further complicating matters, on 29 April 2005, the United Kingdom and Canada warned its citizens against using the airport due to alleged safety concerns concerning the runway, which was claimed to be built over ancient qanats (subterranean waterways).^[5][6]

Final opening

On 26 October 2007, it was announced that as of 28 October 2007 at midnight, all international flights except those bound to and from Damascus, Jeddah and Medina were transferred to the Imam Khomeini International Airport and the IKA became Tehran's primary international airport. In 2016, as a result of worsening ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, all Hajj flights from Iran were terminated, rendering IKA the only international gateway to Tehran.^[7]

Operations

Statistics

The Emirates Airbus A380 saluted by traditional water cannon ceremony In Imam Khomeini Int'l Airport, Tehran 2014

In 2013, the airport handled 4.756 million passengers, a 20% increase over the previous year. This made it the eleventh busiest airport by international passenger traffic in the Middle East. The airport handled 98,904 tonnes of cargo in 2013. The total number of commercial aircraft movements was 36,827 in 2013.^[8]

Post-nuclear sanctions boom

Subsequent to the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in mid January 2016, Air France became the first European carrier to resume flights to the Iranian capital after having suspended them in 2008. On 17 April 2016,^[9] Air Asia resume Tehran services by offering direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to Tehran after having suspended them in 2012.

Furthermore, various other airlines including Austrian, Alitalia, British Airways^[10], KLM, China Southern Airlines^[11] and Thai Airways^[12] have either resumed or ramped up frequency of their flights to Tehran.

Infrastructure

Passenger Terminals

Terminal 1

IKIA's first active (and as of July 2016, its only operational) terminal has a total annual handling capacity of 6.5 million passengers and 120,000 tonnes of cargo. In 2015, it handled over 7 million passengers, and it is expected to handle 8 million in 2016.^[13]

Salam Terminal (Terminal 2)

The second terminal, called the Salam Terminal, is currently under construction, with a capacity of 5 million passengers per year. It was meant to be opened in June 2016, but financing issues led to its opening being delayed until May 2017. While originally intended as a dedicated pilgrimage terminal, according to Iran's Minister of Roads and Transportation Abbas Akhoundi, it will be open to all varieties of flights.^[13]

Iranshahr Terminal (Terminal 3)

The third terminal, called the Iranshahr Terminal, is set to open in 2–3 years. It is currently in its planning phase, with the development contract awarded to the Dutch engineering firm Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), a subsidiary of Royal HaskoningDHV.^[13] It will have an expected capacity of 20 million passengers per year, bringing the airport's total passenger capacity to 30 million passengers per year. Once opened, the current Terminal 1 will be used for domestic flights only.^[14]

Runways

There are currently two runways at IKA of which only one is operational. The operational runway is equipped with the ILS CAT II since August 2009. A second ILS system was purchased seven years ago to serve the other runway but the selling firm refused to set it up due to sanctions against Iran. The ILS was installed by Iranian technicians but malfunctioned and was indefinitely switched off.^[15] A third runway positioned to the south of the existing runways and passenger terminal is in final stages of construction.

Hotels

In October 2015, French corporation AccorHotels opened its Novotel and Ibis-branded hotels on the airport premises, marking the entry of the first international hotel chain into the Iranian market since the 1979 revolution.^[16] The two hotels are connected to the main passenger terminal by a skybridge passing through the currently unfinished airport metro station.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Ground transportation

Rail

Metro

An extension of the southern part of Tehran Metro Line 1 towards IKA airport and the new town of Parand is presently under construction. One station at the current passenger terminal (Terminal 1) is undergoing final stages of construction. There are also provisions for a second station serving the planned Iranshahr Terminal (Terminal 3). The service is not expected to commence operations before March 2017.

There are further plans to have Tehran Metro Line 3 reach its southern terminus at either IKA or the new town of Parand located 15 km to the west of the airport. A formal decision is yet to be finalized on the choice of terminus.

High-speed rail

The airport is planned to be served by the Tehran-Qom-Isfahan High Speed Rail. The new link will enable direct rail access from the cities of Qom and Isfahan and a fast non-stop connection to Tehran Railway Station. The line is currently in early planning and construction phase.

Road

Imam Khomeini Airport is accessible from Tehran by car, taxi and shuttle buses via Tehran-Qom and Tehran-Saveh freeways. Airport-operated taxis serve arriving passenger 24/7. As of December 2016, a typical taxi journey from the airport to the center of Tehran takes around 45 minutes and costs approximately 600000 IRR ($15).

• Freeway 5
• Freeway 7

Accidents and incident

• On 15 July 2009, Caspian Airlines Flight 7908, a Tupolev Tu-154 bound for Yerevan, Armenia crashed into a field in the village of Farsiyan in Qazvin province (north-western Iran), 16 minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini Airport. All 168 passengers and crew were killed.^[30]

See also

• Iran Civil Aviation Organization
• Transport in Iran
• List of airports in Iran
• List of the busiest airports in Iran
• List of airlines of Iran

References

• "Monthly flight plan" (in Persian). Imam Khomenini International Airport official website. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2007. 
• Airport information for OIIE at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.

External links

Media related to Imam Khomeini International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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