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Allama Iqbal International Airport (IATA airport code: LHE formerly called Lahore International Airport) is the airport which serves Pakistan's second largest and the world's 24th largest city, Lahore. It is named after Allama Iqbal who was a major proponent for the foundation of Pakistan. The Airport has 3 terminals, the Allama Iqbal terminal, the Hajj terminal, and a cargo terminal.
Location
The airport is located about 15 km from the center of the city.
The Allama Iqbal International Complex
Recently, it has undergone a major renovation which has not only enlarged the airport, but also beautified it with the building of new terminals built to reflect the Mughal history of Lahore. The new renovations were carried out with hopes of increasing traffic to the airport by ten million more passengers by 2015. Right now the airport gets an average of 75-80 flights each day, but the number of flights doubles during the Hajj season and the airport handles about 3,500,000 passengers per year annually, but the number is expected to increase due to the renovations made. It is hoped that by 2015 Allama Iqbal International Airport will be one of the busiest airports in Asia, however it faces stiff competition from other airports in the region, particularly Dubai
The brand new airport includes many duty-free shops including restaurants, cafes, ice-cream parlours, confectionery shops, book and toy shops and a souvenir shop. There are many flat screen televisions that show live flight times in the national languages, Urdu and English. The airport has seven air-bridges that dock onto the aircrafts during departures and arrivals at the terminal. The total parking spaces are 30. The airport can provide 22 parking spaces for commercial and jet aircraft. The airport can handle 20 flights per hour.
There are several objections to the size of the new airport complex as it is smaller as compared to the Karachi airport. It has been projected that it will have to add new terminal building within 10 years. This due to the fact that the passenger traffic is growing exponentially due to economic revival and reductions in ticket prices due to competition between Pakistan International Airlines and other private airlines such as Aero Asia Airlines, Airblue and Shaheen Air International.
Pakistan International Airlines is a major airline that flies out of Lahore as the flag carrier of Pakistan and uses the airport as a hub only second to Quaid-e-Azam International Airport. Other Pakistani airlines that operate many flights out of Lahore daily are Aero Asia Airlines, Airblue, and Shaheen Air International.
The Hajj Terminal
The Hajj terminal is part of the old airport. It is used every year by Pakistan International Airlines for Hajj Operations to take the people who are going on Hajj to The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia.
- Pakistan International Airlines (Jeddah)
Airlines
- Aero Asia Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Doha, Dubai, Karachi, Muscat)
- Airblue (Dubai, Karachi)
- Air Italy (Verona)
- Askari Aviation (Karachi, Islamabad)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
- Gulf Air (Muscat)
- Gulf Traveller (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat)
- Indian Airlines (Delhi)
- Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
- Pakistan International Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahawalpur, Bahrain, Bangkok, Birmingham(U.K.), Chicago O'hare, Copenhagen, Dammam, Delhi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan,Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Houston Intercontinental, Hyderabad, Jeddah, Kuwait, London Heathrow, Los Angeles(2006), Madinah, Manchester(U.K.), Milan /Malpensa, Moenjodaro, Muscat, Mushad, New York JFK, Oslo, Paris-Charles de Gualle, Riyadh, Sharjah, Tashkent, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto, Rahim Yar Khan, Rome Fiumicino, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, Sukkur, Zohb)
- Pearl Air (Karachi)
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
- Royal Airlines (Islamabad, Karachi, Multan, Sukkur)
- Safe Air (Faisalabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Multan)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Riyadh, Madinah)
- Schon Air Limited (Karachi)
- Shaheen Air (Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Karachi, Muscat)
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore, Karachi)
- Swe Fly (Leeds, London Luton, Stockholm)
- Thai Airways International (Bangkok)
Cargo Airlines
Future Airlines
- Air Arabia (Sharjah)
- Air Mashriq (London)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
- Srilankan Airlines (Colombo, Delhi)
Speculation
- Air Arabia (Sharjah) There is information tht Air Arabia will start services Lahore and Karachi as new destinations to there route map.
- KLM (Amsterdam) There has been speculation since 2003 that KLM is planning to start operations to Lahore.
- Lufthansa (Frankfurt) Lahore is currently served by Lufthansa Cargo and whilst the Lahore Chanber of Commerce and Industry would like Lufthansa to start passenger services and Lahore is on the list for new destinations for the Summer.
- Srilankan Airlines (Colombo, Delhi) Srilankan will operate to Lahore twice a week on there CMB-DEL-LHE route.
The CIP / VIP Lounge
The use of the CIP lounge is available to only first class and business class passengers travelling on most airlines arriving at the airport.
There are many banks at Allama Iqbal Airport, Lahore including:
- Askari Commercial Bank
- Standard Chartered Bank
- Union Bank
- ABN AMRO Bank
Inorder to access the CIP lounge, Passengers travelling in first and business class must be issused a card from Check-in. It costs approx. 6 dollars per passenger to gain access to the lounge.
The CIP lounge has over 20 items, television, newspapers, magazines, telephones, fax machines and free Internet.
The Runways
There are 2 runways at Allama Iqbal International Airport;
- Runway 36R/18L: 3,310 meters long, 46 meters wide.
- Runway 36L/18R: 2,900 meters long, 46 meters wide.
Events
- During 2000 an Indian Airlines jet which was hijacked in Nepal by elements sympathetic to the militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. The aircraft landed at Lahore International Airport for a few hours and left for Kabul, Afganistan.
See also