Cairo International Airport (; ''Maṭār El Qāhira El Dawly'') is the principal

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

and the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. It serves as the primary hub for

Egyptair Egyptair (Egyptian Arabic: , ') is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, ...

and

Nile Air Nile Air ( ar, النيل للطيران) is an Egyptian airline based at Cairo International Airport that operates scheduled services to destinations in Egypt and the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Southern Europe, Asia and Africa. Nile Air is t ...

as well as several other airlines. The airport is located in Heliopolis, to the northeast of Cairo around from the business area of the city and has an area of approximately . It is one of the busiest airports in Africa, in terms of total passengers.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) built John Payne Field Air Force Base to serve the Allied Forces, rather than take over the existing Almaza Airport located away. Payne Field was a major

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

air cargo and passenger hub, connecting westwards through

Benghazi Airport Benina International Airport ( ar, مطار بنينة الدولي) serves Benghazi, Libya. It is located in the borough of Benina, 19 kilometres (12 mi) east of Benghazi, from which it takes its name. The airport is operated by the Civi ...

(during the war known as ''Soluch Airfield'') to

Algiers airport Houari Boumediene International Airport ( ar, مطار هواري بومدين الدولي, Maṭār Hawwārī Būmadyan al-Duwaliyy) , also known as Algiers Airport or Algiers International Airport, is the main international airport serving ...

on the North African route to Dakar Airport, in French West Africa. Other locations that transport routes were flown were

RAF Habbaniya ) , location = Habbaniya , country = Iraq , image = Habbaniya airfield, circa 1941.jpg , alt = A black and white image of some hangars, tentage and hard standings in a desert , ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

on the Cairo –

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

route;

Lydda Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...

, BritishPalestine; Jeddah,

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

, on the Central African route to Roberts Field,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

(1941–1943), and later after the war ended,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

and on to destinations in Europe. When American forces left the base at the end of the war, the Civil Aviation Authority took over the facility and began using it for international civil aviation. In 1963, Cairo International Airport replaced the old Heliopolis Airport, which had been located at the Hike-Step area in the east of Cairo. The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, which controls the Cairo Airport Company, the Egyptian Airports Company, National Air Navigation Services and Aviation Information Technology, and the Cairo Airport Authority. In 2004,

Fraport AG Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 was originally used by EgyptAir and several Middle Eastern airlines. However, an increasing number of other foreign carriers, such as

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airl ...

and KLM transferred operations from Terminal 2 in 2006. In May 2009,

EgyptAir Egyptair (Egyptian Arabic: , ') is the state-owned flag carrier of Egypt. The airline is headquartered at Cairo International Airport, its main hub, operating scheduled passenger and freight services to 81 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, ...

moved all its operations to the new Terminal 3 (along with all

Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenger ...

airlines serving the airport). In March 2010, with the closure of Terminal 2 for major renovation works, all non–Star Alliance airlines serving the airport shifted operations to the terminal. Departures and arrivals are with all airlines departing from Terminal 1 Hall 1, with the exception of

Saudia Saudia ( ar, السعودية '), formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. The airline's main operational base is at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. King Khalid Inte ...

, which is the sole tenant of Terminal 1 Hall 2 due to the size of their operations (SV accounted for 65% of Terminal 2's traffic in 2009). Most international airlines arrive in Hall 3. Arrival Hall serves international and domestic arrivals. The CAC has inaugurated the "Airport City Concept" to provide an array of services and entertainment facilities to travelers, airport visitors, as well as the general public. The first phase, a new shopping mall called the 'AirMall' has been built near Terminal 1's International Arrival Hall 3. As of 2009, the facade of the terminal was being upgraded. A study on reorganizing the departure and arrival halls is ongoing as well as the feasibility study to include contact stands to improve the service and comfort levels to the passengers. Terminal 1 has 12 gates.

Hall 4

Terminal 1, Hall 4 is dedicated to

private jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

and

executive jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

services. Even though it is referred to as a 'Hall' under Terminal 1 it is operated independently from the commercial passenger terminal. Smart Aviation Company has been based at the building since 2007; it moved to a new executive FBO in 2010 adjacent to Hall 4. CairoAirport-Terminal1

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 was inaugurated in 1986 with 7 boarding gates. It primarily served European, Gulf and East Asian airlines. The terminal was closed in April 2010 for complete renovations starting in 2012 and lasting 36 months. The architecture of the building limited the opportunities for further expansion, which necessitated the entire building to be closed for major structural overhaul at an estimated cost of approximately $400 million. In February 2010 the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

's Board of Executive Directors approved a loan amount of $387 million to support the Cairo Airport Development Project (CADP) to overhaul the terminal with national banks providing the rest. The project aimed at increasing the terminal capacity from 3 million to 7.5 million passengers annually. The upgrade included the complete modernization of the 20-year-old facility to reach the same level of service as the new Terminal 3. In August 2011, Turkey's

Limak Holding Limak Holding A.S. is a Turkish conglomerate, with major interests in construction, energy, cement, and tourism. Its assets include the Limak Cement and Limak Energy companies and the Limak Tourism Group. In 2012 it had around $260m revenue from ...

won the tender for modernizing the terminal. After several project delays, the renovated terminal had its soft opening on 28 September 2016 with a capacity of 7.5 million passengers bringing the airport's total passenger capacity to 30 million passengers annually. The new terminal has 14 gates and an additional 5 remote stands. Gate at Terminal 3 Cairo International Airport - panoramio

During February 2017, Saudi Arabian Airlines launched its first international "Al-Fursan lounge" at Cairo International Airport Terminal 2. The 1,500 square-meter lounge can accommodate 300 people at a time. The renovated terminal is operating jointly with Terminal 3 as one integrated terminal via an air bridge, thus, reinforcing the role of Cairo International Airport as a regional hub.

Terminal 3

Given projected growth, and the limited ability to expand Terminal 2, the

Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation The Ministry of Civil Aviation of Egypt (MCA, ar, وزارة الطيران المدني) is the ministry in charge of civil aviation in Egypt. Duties The ministry sets civil aviation regulations, sets airworthiness and all flight rules, and ai ...

began construction of Terminal 3 in 2004. The terminal was officially inaugurated on 18 December 2008 and opened for commercial operations on 27 April 2009. The facility is twice as large as the current two terminal buildings combined, with the capacity to handle 11 million passengers annually (6 million international and 5 million domestic) once the first phase is completed. It is adjacent to Terminal 2, and the two terminals are initially connected by a bridge. With its hub at the airport, EgyptAir's operations were overhauled with the full transfer of its operations (international and domestic) into the new terminal between 27 April and 15 June 2009. To implement the

"Move Under One Roof" concept, all Alliance members serving the airport were relocated to the terminal by the first of August 2009. The new terminal includes: * Two piers of extendable capacity and gates facilities serving domestic and international traffic on contact and remote stands. The main building and the piers are connected by concourses. Two of the gates are equipped to handle Airbus A380 aircraft. Provisions for a third pier are in the planning stages. * Terminal 3 has 23 gates (2 gates for the A380), 6 check-in islands consisting of 110 check-in counters (plus 10 mobile counters and 10 CUSS kiosks), 76 immigration counters (plus 5 biometric gates), 52 contact and remote aircraft parking stands (5 with multiple uses), 425 FIDS, 15 public information points, 7 baggage carousels, 63 elevators, 50 moving walkways and 51 escalators. * Retails space covers more than 5,000m² (4.034m² occupied by

Tourism & Duty Free Shops). * CairoIntlAirportT3DutyFree

International food court with Oriental, Asian and Western food (incl.

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant c ...

, Hippopotamus,

Upper Crust Upper crust most commonly refers to: * The upper class in modern societies; the social class composed of the wealthiest members of society, who also wield the greatest political power. Upper crust may also refer to: Restaurants * Upper Crust ...

). *Landside roads including bridges and flyover serving the traffic to and from the terminal building, surface car park areas (multi-story parking garage capable of holding more than 3,000 cars), a new access road connecting the airport with the Autostrad road (Cairo ring road) and upgrading the access roads.

Seasonal flight terminal

On 20 September 2011, Prime Minister Sharaf inaugurated the new Seasonal Flights Terminal (ST), located west of Terminal 3. During the start-up phase EgyptAir operates its daily flight to Medina from the new Terminal. All Hajj traffic of EgyptAir will move to the ST while Saudia's Hajj flights will still operate from Terminal 1. The terminal has an annual capacity of 3.2 million passengers with 27 check-in counters and 7 gates with a common gate and single security concept, the first in Cairo. It is designed to handle 1,200 passengers per hour. Passengers will be bussed to remote aircraft stands around Terminal 3. Its purpose is to ease operational strains on the existing terminals during pilgrim seasons.

Facilities

Overview

The airport has four terminals, the third (and largest) opened on 27 April 2009 and the Seasonal Flights Terminal opened on 20 September 2011. Terminal 2 was closed in April 2010 for major renovation works and was reopened on 28 September 2016. A third parallel runway replaced the crossing runway in 2010. Runway 05L/23R is long, 05C/23C has a length of , and the new runway is designated as 05R/23L and is long.

Terminal Transfer

The

MiniMetro MiniMetro is a family of cable propelled automated people mover systems built by HTI Group. The vehicles either run on rails or an air cushion and have either a detachable grip (to the cable) or a fixed grip. Leitner has a test track for the ...

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

links Terminal 1, the AirMall, the multi-storey car park and Terminals 2 and 3. The main station is located between Terminals 2 and 3 and is an integral part of the bridge connecting the two terminals. An air-cushioned system with top speed was designed and constructed by

Leitner-Poma Leitner-Poma of America, known simply as Leitner-Poma, is a United States aerial lift manufacturer based in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is the American subsidiary of French-based Poma, which is owned by the Italian company HTI Group. The North Am ...

Airport Hotel

A luxury 350-room five-star

Le Méridien Le Méridien is an upscale, design-focused international hotel brand with a European perspective. It was originally founded by Air France in 1972 and was later based in the United Kingdom. Marriott International now owns the chain. As of June 202 ...

hotel opened in front of Terminal 3 in December 2013. The hotel is linked to the terminal by a skyway that is also equipped with a moving walkway.

Future developments

With the national carrier,

, and the Egyptian authorities planning to develop the airport as a hub for the Middle East and Africa, the airport facilities are in constant development. Several projects are underway, including: * Construction of a

multi-story car park A multistorey car park ( British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a bu ...

located near Terminal 3. * Continued upgrade of the land-side façade of Terminal 1. * The Cairo Cargo City (CCC) will provide facilities to support the growth in cargo traffic through the airport. * Development of real estate and the ''Oasis Project'', which entails a business park with company headquarters and regional offices. * Construction of'' 'Aerocity, a family leisure park to be built within the airport's investment zone. With an area of , the enterprise should cost 1 billion Egyptian pounds (US$183 million) and will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will consist of the building of a business center, and the second, of an entertainment park following the guidelines of Disney World, in the United States. There will also be parks, an artificial lake, game courts, a water park, 18 cinemas, and several restaurants. This will be a new feature of Cairo Airport and forms part of the long-term development and modernization plan.

Statistics

The sharp decline in 2020 was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide and in Egypt.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Ground transport

Limousines and shuttle buses

There are several ways to leave Cairo airport upon arrival. The most convenient way is by one of the numerous "limousine services". Pick-up points are in front of the terminals (curb side). The prices are fixed depending on the destination and the car category, but different providers may charge wildly different prices. Category A are luxury limousines (e.g.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a range of executive cars manufactured by German automaker Mercedes-Benz in various engine and body configurations. Produced since 1953, the E-Class falls midrange in the Mercedes line-up, and has been marketed world ...

), Category B are Micro Buses for up to seven passengers, Category C are midsized cars (e.g.

Mitsubishi Lancer The Mitsubishi Lancer is an automobile produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors since 1973. The Lancer has been marketed as the Colt Lancer, Dodge Colt, Plymouth Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Eagle Summit, ...

) and new Category D are London Taxis.

Public transport

A shuttle bus connects with all the passenger terminals and finally stops at the Cairo Airport Bus Terminal where public buses heading to other destinations in Cairo and connect frequently to major transportation hubs like Abbasia and

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Ca ...

/Abdel-Moniem Riad bus terminus. However, there were efforts by Transport for Cairo (TFC) to map the major bus routes and metro lines in Cairo. Having this map in hand is useful. Also, scheduling and route information of both the public

Cairo Transportation Authority Cairo Transport Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit within Cairo, and the largest operator in Egypt. CTA operates buses, a surface metro, ferries and river buses. Through its subsidiary Greater Cairo Bus Company (GCBC) it operates buse ...

(CTA) and Mwasalat Mirs (MM) buses are now readily available on

Google Transit Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and r ...

and can be accessed using the

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

app and website. Persons carrying cabin-sized pieces of luggage can use most of the public buses in Cairo without having to pay for an extra ticket (unless they block the seat next to them with the bag, in which case they might be asked to pay for another ticket ranging from 5 to 10 LE). There were plans to connect the Line 3 of the

Cairo Metro The Cairo Metro ( ar, مترو أنفاق القاهرة, Metro Anfāq al-Qāhirah, lit. "Cairo Tunnel Metro" or ) is the rapid transit system in Greater Cairo, Egypt. It was the first of the three full-fledged metro systems in Africa a ...

to the airport however, these plans have been put on hold. The nearest metro stations are Heliopolis square and Adly Mansour Interchange station. Transit Map for Cairo Metro and Mwasalat Misr buses, provided by Transport for Cairo. Note that this map doesn't include the latest Cairo Metro expansions, as Line 3 now reaches Heliopolis Sq, Huckstep/AlHikestep and Adly Mansor Interchange Stations.

Taxi

With the exception of the so-called (and increasingly scarce) "Black and White" cabs, all regular Cairo taxis (colloquially known as the White taxi) are equipped with digital taxi meters. Taxi drivers in Cairo are legally required to switch on their Taxi meters the moment they pick up a new client (See video on Mada Masr). However, some taxi drivers will try to either manipulate how the meter counts the distance driven (by electronically tampering with their meters) or will remove the meter and force the customer to bargain for a price.

Ride Sharing

An affordable and reliable form of private transport readily available in Cairo are the popular ride-sharing mobile phone app based services such as

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pack ...

and

Careem Careem is a Dubai-based super app with operations in over 100 cities, covering 12 countries across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia regions. The company, which was valued at over billion in 2018, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ube ...

, which both accepts cash and card payments.

Car Rental

Several international car rental providers operate out of Cairo International Airport (CAI) and have offices both in Terminals 3 and 1.

Car

The airport can be reached via Oroba Road from Heliopolis or via the new road, connecting Terminal 3 with the Cairo Ring Road and

Suez Road Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same b ...

interchange. The toll for driving into the airport grounds range from 10 to 20 EGP depending on the type of the vehicle. Note: Cairo-Suez road is part of the

Arab Mashreq International Road Network The Arab Mashreq international Road Network is an international road network between the primarily Arab countries of the Mashriq ( Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Yemen). In addi ...

, designated as the Motorway 50/M50. It connects Cairo to Suez,

South Sinai South Sinai Governorate ( ar, محافظة جنوب سيناء ') is the least populated governorate of Egypt. It is located in the east of the country, encompassing the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula. Saint Catherine's Monastery, an Eas ...

through the

Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel The Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel is a 1640 metre long car tunnel under the Suez Canal, at Shallufa. The tunnel is named after Ahmed Hamdi, an Egyptian engineer and general killed in action during the October War. It has two lanes of traffic, one in e ...

under the Suez Canal, then to Israel via the

Taba Border Crossing The Taba Border Crossing also known as the Menachem Begin Crossing ( ar, معبر طابا, he, מעבר מנחם בגין formerly he, מעבר טאבה) is an international border crossing between Taba, Egypt, and Eilat, Israel History Open ...

, Jordan via the

Wadi Araba Crossing The Wadi Araba Crossing (Jordanian name, ar, تقاطع وادي عربة) or Yitzhak Rabin Crossing (Israeli name, he, מעבר יצחק רבין) is an international border crossing between Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel. Opened on August 8, ...

, to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

via

Durra Border Crossing Durra Border Crossing (مركز حدود الدرة) is a border crossing between Aqaba in Jordan and Haql in Saudi Arabia. On the Jordanian side, the border terminal is maintained by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. The border crossing ...

, and then finally into

via the Arar border crossing where the road ends in the capital,

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

. To bypass crossing through the

, where an entry visa to Israel may be required, the majority of the intra-Arab road traffic -including cargo and trucking- uses the

Nuweiba Nuweiba (also spelled: Nueiba; ar, نويبع, ) is a coastal town in the eastern part of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, located on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. History Historically, it is in the Asian Part of Egypt and the area was inhabited by t ...

–

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Gove ...

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 20 February 1956, a "Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux"

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...

B on a scheduled Saigon-Karachi-Cairo-Paris flight crashed on approach to Cairo airport, killing 52 of the 63 people on board. * On 19 March 1965,

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

YI-ACU of

Iraqi Airways Iraqi Airways Company, operating as Iraqi Airways ( ar, الخطوط الجوية العراقية ''al-Xuṭūṭ al-Jawwiyyah al-ʿIrāqiyyah, Kurdish: ھێڵی ئاسمانی عێراق''), is the national carrier of Iraq, headquartered ...

was damaged beyond economic repair when it ran into a number of lamp standards after a hydraulic system failure. * On 20 May 1965,

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 (PK705) was a Boeing 720 airliner that crashed while descending to land at Cairo International Airport on 20 May 1965. Of the 121 passengers and crew on board, all but 6 were killed. Accident Flight ...

, a

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was i ...

-040B, crashed on approach to Runway 34, killing 121. * On 18 March 1966, United Arab Airlines Flight 749 crashed while attempting to land at Cairo International Airport. All 30 passengers and crew on board were killed. * On 15 January 1968,

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

SU-AJG of United Arab Airlines departed on an international scheduled cargo flight to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

when the crew decided to return due to icing. The aircraft subsequently broke up in mid-air and crashed at

Zefta Zefta ( ar, زفتى , Coptic language, Coptic: ⲍⲉⲃⲉⲑⲉ ''Zevethe'' ''Emile Amélineau.'' La géographie de l’Egypte à l'époque copte. — Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1893. — 690 p) is an Egyptian town in the Nile delta, wi ...

, killing all four people on board. The cargo shifting in flight and the aircraft being overloaded may have contributed to the accident. * On 6 September 1970,

Pan Am Flight 93 In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa, ...

, which was flying to New York City from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, was hijacked and landed in Cairo after refueling and picking up another hijacker in Beirut. The Boeing 747–100 was blown up after everyone got out. The hijackers were arrested later. * After more than forty years, an EgyptAir plane (

EgyptAir Flight 667 On 29 July 2011, EgyptAir Flight 667, a Boeing 777 on a scheduled passenger flight from Cairo, Egypt, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, suffered a cockpit fire on the ground at Cairo Airport, while preparing to depart. There were no fatalities, but seve ...

) caught fire while parked at the terminal just before it's scheduled flight to Saudi Arabai. Everyone on board was able to quickly get off the plane.

Accolades

* 2010 – One of the three most improved airports by

Skytrax Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services) is a United Kingdom–based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site. Services Skytrax conducts research for commercial airlines, as well as taking survey ...

World Airport Awards * 2011 – Second ''Best Airport in Africa'' of the Airport Service Quality Awards by

Airports Council International Airports Council International (ACI) is an organization of Airport authority, airport authorities aimed at unifying industry practices for airport standards. Established in 1991, its headquarters (ACI World) are based in Montreal, Montreal, Queb ...

References

External links

*
Live flight tracking
at

FlightAware FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products. , it is the world's largest flight tracking platform, with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B gr ...

* * {{Authority control 1940s establishments in Egypt Transport in Cairo Airports in Egypt World War II airfields in Egypt Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in North Africa Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt