Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. H ...

International Airport ( ku, فڕۆکه‌خانه‌ی نێوده‌وڵه‌تیی هه‌ولێر), is the main airport of the city of

in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

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 ...

. It is administered by the

Iraqi Government The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as w ...

and the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

under a committee consisting of the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region,

Masrour Barzani Masrour Barzani () (born 2 March 1969) is a Kurdish politician and serving as prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, an autonomous region of Iraq, since June 2019. He is also the chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council and a member ...

, and is one of two international airports (the other being Sulaymaniyah Airport), with a third in

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Sto ...

being under construction. The new modern airport opened in 2005. The airport has one of the longest runways in the world.

History

The airport was built at the beginning of the 1970s as an Iraqi

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

. The airstrip was used as a military base until 1991 by the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused ...

regime as a result of

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, ...

establishing a no-fly zone over northern

. After the 2003 US invasion, the

took over administrative rule of the region. On 26 May 2005, the airport was given the

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indicators'', a ...

, ORER. Endowed with natural resources including oil, natural gas and other minerals, investment in

has increased substantially since 2005. The city of Erbil has been a large recipient of foreign investments. Due to the growing need for safe access into the country, the Regional Government invested US$500 million in the construction of a modern airport.

Old airport

The old Erbil airport covered , and was divided into departure and arrival halls. It had three gates and a long runway with an ILS system. The Kurdistan International Bank, a Tourism Information office, the airline companies offices,

duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...

s, a cafeteria, and the Korek Telecom office were located inside the terminal. The warehouse offered cargo space amounting to and consisted of an import and an export section. The cargo was handled by

Dnata Dubai National Air Travel Agency ( ar, دناتا) (commonly known as dnata) is an Emirati airport services provider which provides aircraft ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services across five continents. History dnata was ...

, a

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

-based company.

New airport

A newly built, US$550 million airport was opened on 5 July 2005. The new airport is next to the old airport (previously a military field) and has one of the world's longest runways, and is equipped for ILS CAT II operations. The airport's new terminal has duty-free shops and currency exchange offices. The terminal also has VIP areas for business jets, and there is a VIP terminal for visiting dignitaries and diplomats for the purpose of achieving international airport standards. In 2010 Erbil International Airport had the least expensive aviation fuel in Iraq (at 83 US cents per litre). From 29 September 2017, until 14 March 2018, following the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum, all commercial international flights were suspended. The airport remained open for domestic, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic flights.

Drone attacks

The airport has been the target of numerous drone strikes by Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in 2021. On 15 April, a drone carrying explosives targeted the military section of the airport. The section housed US-led forces, and no casualties were reported. On 6 July, another drone targeted the same section of the airport and crashed near the airport. On 11 September, two drones carrying explosives failed to reach the airport; one was shot down by C-RAM air defense and the other one crashed. There were no casualties.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

These are the airlines and destinations served from Erbil Airport:

Cargo

Statistics

Since its opening in 2006, the airport has seen increased traffic. Traffic was up 22% in 2010 and in 2011 demand was up 37% to just over 620,000 passengers. In the first four months of 2012 passenger numbers are up 52% with April setting a new record of 84,275 departing and arriving passengers.

Incidents

*On July 6, 2021, a series of attacks against the airport were reported, including drone and rocket attacks.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Airports in Iraq

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Ankawa Airports in Kurdistan Region (Iraq) 2005 establishments in Iraq Airports established in 2005 2005 establishments in Iraqi Kurdistan