Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport (Arabic: مطار شرم الشيخ الدولي Maṭār Sharm al-Shaykh al-Duwaliyy) (IATA: SSH, ICAO: HESH), formerly known as Ophira International Airport, is an international airport located in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Opened on May 14, 1968, the airport was originally an Israeli Air Force base and also served the small settlement of Ofira, before the territory was returned to Egypt following the Camp David Accords.
In 2008, the Egyptian Airports Holding Company announced plans to build a third new terminal at the airport. The company expects to receive design offers for before the end of September 2008. Ibrahim Mannaa, the director of Airports Holding Company, said that it is a move to meet the sizeable increase in passengers numbers at the airport that exceeded 28% during the first 8 months of 2008.
The largest regular aircraft operating into the airport is the Boeing 747-400 by Transaero Airlines (from Moscow); British Airways operated the only regular scheduled Boeing 777-200ER service from Gatwick Airport, which has now ceased.
In 2012, the airport served 6.6m passengers (+21.0% vs 2011). It is the third busiest airport in Egypt after Cairo International Airport and Hurghada International Airport.
Read more about Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport: Airlines and Destinations, Entry Requirements, Incidents and Accidents, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word airport:
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)