Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport (, ''Maydâne Hawâyiye Mazâre Šarif''; ) , officially called Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport, is located about east of

Mazar-i-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...

in northern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, which is around 15 minutes of driving distance from the center of the city. Situated at an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, the airport has one

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

measuring around and several

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

s, and facilities for up to 1,000 passengers. It serves much of the population of northern Afghanistan. In 2013, a sixty million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

terminal was added to the airport while the older terminal is now used for domestic flights. Though originally constructed with 2 parallel runways, the airport's northernmost runway has since been converted into a taxiway, making it one of the largest

airports in Afghanistan This is a list of airports in Afghanistan, grouped by type and sorted by location. Description Afghanistan has four international airports which are expected to increase in the future. The Kabul International Airport serves the population of Kabu ...

. The Mazar-i-Sharif rail terminal is located to the east of the airport, which is connected to the Hairatan

border town A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different coun ...

in the north. The Ministry of Defense also has a military base adjacent to the airport. Other nearby airports include Kunduz Airport in

Kunduz Province Kunduz () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethnically ...

to the east;

Kabul International Airport Kabul International Airport () is located in the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is one of the country's main international airports, capable of housing over a hundred military and civilian aircraft. It is currently operated by UAE-base ...

Kabul Province Kabul (Dari/Pashto: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...

to the southeast; Bamyan Airport in

Bamyan Province Bamyan, also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān (), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan with the city of Bamyan as its center, located in central parts of Afghanistan. The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-mountainous ...

to the south; and Sheberghan Airport in

Jowzjan Province Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jowzjan () is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of villag ...

to the west.

History

Early years

Mazar-i-Sharif Airport was built in the 1960s by the United States during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, when the Soviets and the Americans were engaged in extending political ties in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. At that time the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was less than 50 miles north of Mazar-i-Sharif. During the 1970s, the airport began seeing a gradual increase in air traveling. For the first time large number of foreign tourists began arriving to see historical places in the city. The airport was heavily used in the 1980s by the Soviet forces from which they launched daily flight missions to hit targets in the

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

controlled territories of Afghanistan. It also served as one of the main hubs for deploying troops from the neighboring former Soviet Union.

21st century

C-5 Galaxy at Mazar-e-Sharif Airport in northern Afghanistan

In 2005, Camp Marmal was built next to the airport, which gradually expanded to one of the largest military bases in Afghanistan. In 2006, after

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

took command of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF), the airfield functioned as a main hub for the exchange of personnel as well as air cargo. Since 2008 a

TACAN A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system initially designed for naval aircraft to acquire moving landing platforms (i.e., ships) and later expanded for use by other military aircraft. It p ...

installation for an instrument landing system was available for bad weather operation. It served all ISAF personnel, including American and

Afghan Armed Forces The Afghan Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (, ) and also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces, is the military of Afghanistan, commanded by the Taliban government from 1997 to 2001 and a ...

. Work on a new international terminal began in 2010 and was completed in 2013. A special inauguration ceremony was held in June 2013, which was attended by then-German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Afghanistan's Transport and Aviation Minister

Daoud Ali Najafi Dawood Ali Najafi (; born February 17, 1968) is a politician in Afghanistan. He served as Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, a position he held since June 2010. Son of Salman Ali, Najafi lived in Pakistan as an Afghan refugee. He received ...

, Balkh's Governor

Atta Muhammad Nur Attā Muhammad Nur (also spelled Atā Mohammed Noor; ; born 1964) is an Afghanistan, Afghan exiled politician and former mujahideen leader who served as the List of governors of Balkh, Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to Janua ...

and some parliamentarians. After the inauguration, the airport was given the name Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport. This was to honor the renowned 13th-century poet Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi, also known as

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

. The expansion of the airport was a joint venture of Germany and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

(UAE), cost 60 million euros and took about three years to complete. The project was overseen by a Turkish company. On 30 June 2014 the

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

detachment of

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

's ended. In August 2021, forces of the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(IEA) took control of the airport. The transfer of power led to a situation where as many as 1,000 people were left waiting to get out of the airport, stranded for several days. Following the resumption of Taliban rule, agreement was reached with the UAE that allowed GAAC to administer airport security, and with

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

to train 20 Afghan specialists in air traffic control at the airport and to replace the antiquated air navigation equipment.

Airlines and destinations

the following airlines provide travel services at Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport:

References

External links