Erbil International Airport

Erbil International Airport (IATA: EBL, ICAO: ORER) (Kurdish: فڕۆکه‌خانه‌ی نێوده‌وڵه‌تیی هه‌ولێر), is the main airport of the city of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is administered by the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government under a committee consisting of the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, and is one of two international airports (the other being Sulaymaniyah Airport), with a third in Duhok being under construction. The new modern airport opened in 2010. The airport has one of the longest runways in the world.

Erbil International Airport

Firokaxaney Nêwdewletî Hewlêr

فڕۆکه‌خانه‌ی نێوده‌وڵه‌تیی هه‌ولێر
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorIraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government [1]
ServesErbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
LocationAnkawa
Hub for
Elevation AMSL1,363 ft / 415 m
Coordinates36°14′15″N 043°57′47″E
Websiteerbilairport.com
Map
ORER
Location in Kurdistan Region
ORER
ORER (Iraq)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 4,800 15,748 Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Cargo33,527
Total passengers1,565,998

History

The airport was built at the beginning of the 1970s as an Iraqi military base. The airstrip was used as a military base until 1991 by the Ba'ath Party regime as a result of United Nations Security Council establishing a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. After the 2003 US invasion, the Kurdistan Regional Government took over administrative rule of the region. On 26 May 2005, the airport was given the ICAO airport code, ORER. Endowed with natural resources including oil, natural gas and other minerals, investment in Iraq 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 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft), and was divided into departure and arrival halls. It had three gates and a 2,800 m (9,200 ft) long runway with an ILS system.[2] The Kurdistan International Bank, a Tourism Information office, the airline companies offices, duty-free shops, a cafeteria, and the Korek Telecom office were located inside the terminal.

The warehouse offered cargo space amounting to 4,320 m2 (46,500 sq ft) and consisted of an import and an export section. The cargo was handled by Dnata, a Dubai-based company.[2]

New airport

A newly built$, US550 million airport was opened on 5 July 2005.[2][3] The new airport is next to the old airport (previously a military field) and has one of the world's longest runways, 4,800 m × 75 m (15,748 ft × 246 ft) and is equipped for ILS CAT II operations.[2] The airport's new terminal has duty-free shops and currency exchange offices.[4] The terminal also has CIP areas for business jets, and there is a VIP terminal for visiting dignitaries and diplomats[3] for the purpose of achieving international airport standards.[5]

In 2010 Erbil International Airport had the least expensive aviation fuel in Iraq (at 83 US cents per litre).[6]

From 29 September 2017, until 14 March 2018, following the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum, all commercial international flights were suspended.[7] The airport remained open for domestic, humanitarian, military, and diplomatic flights.[8]

Drone attacks

The airport has been the target of numerous drone strikes by Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in 2021.[9] 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.[10] On 6 July, another drone targeted the same section of the airport and crashed near the airport.[11] 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.[12]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
An Iraqi Airways Airbus A321-200 at Erbil International Airport in 2014

These are the airlines and destinations served from Erbil Airport:[13]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Sharjah
AnadoluJet Adana,[14] Diyarbakir,[15] Gaziantep,[15] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[16]
Austrian Airlines Vienna
Cham Wings Airlines Damascus[17]
Egyptair Cairo
Emirates Dubai–International
Eurowings Düsseldorf
Fly Baghdad Aleppo, Ankara, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul, Medina
flydubai Dubai–International[18]
FlyErbil Baku, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Istanbul, Yerevan
Iraqi Airways Amman–Queen Alia, Ankara, Baghdad, Baku, Berlin, Cairo, Copenhagen, Dubai–International, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Munich, Sulaymaniyah
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Mahan Air Tehran–Imam Khomeini
Middle East Airlines Beirut[19]
Pegasus Airlines Ankara, Gaziantep,[20] Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha[21]
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia
SunExpress Seasonal: Antalya[22]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Royal Jordanian Cargo[23] Amman–Queen Alia
Turkish Cargo[24] Istanbul–Atatürk

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at EBL airport. See source Wikidata query.

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.[25]

Annual Passenger & Cargo Traffic[26]
Year Passengers  % Change Aircraft

movements

  % Change Cargo (MT)  % Change
2006163,6194,894N/AN/A
2007275,183 68%9,815100.5%10,000
2008302,000 10%7,74521%14,500 45%
2009356,850 18%7,557 2.4%11,533 20%
2010449,536 26%7,235 4.2%10,848 6%
2011620,365 38%7,366 1.8%17,864 65%
2012947,600 53%9,021 22.4%27,488 54%
20131,193,783 26%12,229 35.5%38,571 40%
20141,565,998 31%16,218 32.6%33,527 13%
20151,665,701 6.3%18,864 16.3%22,742 32.1%
20161,814,272 8.9%19,080 1.1%23,462 3.1%
20171,606,531 11.4%15,294 19.8%17,574 25%
20181,533,863 4.5%15,562 1.7%16,505 6%
20191,909,785 24.5%19,560 25.7%N/AN/A

Incidents
  • On July 6, 2021, a series of attacks against the airport were reported, including drone and rocket attacks.[27]

References
  1. "Kurdish government accepts Baghdad's conditions to end dispute". Arab News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. "Old & New". erbilairport.com.
  3. "A winning design". erbilairport.com. 26 May 2005.
  4. "Shops and Services". erbilairport.com.
  5. Erbil International. "Airport". www.erbilairport.com.
  6. EIA informs of one liter fuel in Erbil is $0.83
  7. Erbil International Airport. "Baghdad 'No fly Zone' looms for Kurdistan airports". erbilairport.com.
  8. "Iraqi govt enforces international flight ban in Kurdistan region - France 24". 29 September 2017.
  9. "Iraq's Erbil airport targeted in drone attack: Kurdish officials". 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  10. "Iraq's Erbil airport targeted by explosives-laden drone". 15 April 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  11. "Explosive-laden drone hit Erbil airport in Iraq, aimed at U.S. base -security sources". Reuters. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  12. "Two explosive-laden drones target Erbil International Airport". 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  13. Erbil Airport Flight Schedule
  14. "New Route: Adana-Erbil!". AnadoluJet. 4 February 2022.
  15. Liu, Jim. "Anadolu Jet adds Erbil service from late-March 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  16. Liu, Jim. "Turkish Airlines confirms AnadoluJet network transition from late-March 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  17. chamwings.com - Where we fly retrieved 9 September 2018
  18. Flydubai Flight. "Timetables". flydubai.
  19. MEA. "Timetable". www.mea.com.lb.
  20. "Pegasus Airlines expands Middle East network in 2Q19". Routesonline.
  21. DOH. "Booking". www.qatarairways.com.
  22. "SunExpress Announces 2021 Summer Program". ftnnews.com. 23 February 2021.
  23. rj-cargo.com - Destinations retrieved 27 January 2021
  24. "Turkish Airlines cargo 2015 winter schedule" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  25. Erbil International Airport (13 June 2020). "Growing by 50% in 2012; Mahan Air, Qatar Airways and Transavia.com new this year". anna.aero.
  26. "Airport Statistics". erbilairport.com.
  27. "Attack on Erbil airport in Iraq reported".
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