Sharjah International Airport

Sharjah International Airport (Arabic: مطار الشارقة, romanized: Maṭār aš-Šāriqa) (IATA: SHJ, ICAO: OMSJ) is an airport located 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)[1] east-southeast of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It is spread over an area of 15,200,000 m2 (3,800 acres).[3]

Sharjah International Airport

مطار الشارقة
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OperatorSharjah Airport
ServesSharjah, Dubai
LocationSharjah
Hub for
Time zoneUAE Standard Time (UTC+04:00)
Elevation AMSL116 ft / 35 m
Coordinates25°19′45″N 055°30′58″E
Websitewww.sharjahairport.ae
Map
OMSJ
Location in the UAE
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 4,060 13,320 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers11,993,887
Movements98,786
Cargo tonnage213,348
Sources: UAE AIP[1]
Statistics from Sharjah International Airport[2]

Overview

Sharjah International Airport is the third largest Middle East airfreight hub in cargo tonnage, according to official 2015 statistics from Airports Council InTernational. Ground services company, Sharjah Aviation Services, handled 586,195 tonnes in 2015 – a 16.1% increase year on year. It has one passenger terminal with an area of 125,000 m2 (1,350,000 sq ft).

Sharjah International Airport is home base of the low-cost carrier Air Arabia. The headquarters of Air Arabia is in the Sharjah Freight Center,[4] on the property of the airport[5] in Sharjah, UAE.[4] The center is an old cargo terminal.

History

The current Sharjah International Airport was built in the 1970s and was opened on 31 December 1976. On 20 August 1977, Concorde 202 G-BBDG, which came from Filton and refuelled at Damascus landed at Sharjah International Airport. The aircraft also made a short flight display over the city.

The BAe party was headed by Sir Geoffrey Tuttle, which received a great welcome, the whole party were also given watches and a few received magnificent swords as well.[6]

It replaced RAF Sharjah which was closer to the city and was opened in 1932. It was the first airport in UAE and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, for use by Imperial Airways, and was subsequently used by the RAF until 14 December 1971.[7] The reason for the move was development pressure from the city of Sharjah. The old airport's runway is now part of King Abdul Aziz Street in the city centre.[8][9][10]

The airport was used by the United States Air Force 926th Tactical Fighter Group during Operation Desert Shield/Storm.[11] Approximately 450 members of the unit were stationed at the airport, which flew A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft during the conflict in late 1990 and early 1991.

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 116 feet (35 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 12/30 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,060 m × 60 m (13,320 ft × 197 ft).[1][12]

Financial services at the airport include banking, ATMs and exchange centres.[13] Founded in 1985, Sharjah Airport Travel Agency is owned by the Sharjah Airport Authority, Government of Sharjah and has 14 branches in the UAE, including one on the first floor of the main terminal at Sharjah Airport.[14] There are two prayer rooms available, one in the transit area of the Arrivals Terminal and the other in the ground floor of the Departures Terminal. In addition to this there are mosques in both the East and West Cargo Terminals 3 and 4.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Sharjah:[15]

AirlinesDestinations
Aeroflot Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo[16]
Air Arabia Abha, Ahmedabad, Alexandria, Al Jawf, Almaty, Amman–Queen Alia, Assiut, Baghdad, Bahrain, Baku,[17] Bangalore, Batumi,[18] Beirut, Bishkek,[18] Cairo, Chennai, Chittagong, Coimbatore,Kuala Lumpur International, Colombo–Bandaranaike, Dammam, Delhi, Dhaka, Doha,[19] Erbil, Faisalabad, Gassim, Goa, Ha'il,[20] Hargeisa, Hyderabad, Indore (begins 1 July 2022), Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Jaipur, Jeddah, Jizan, Kabul (suspended), Karachi, Kathmandu, Khartoum, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kuwait, Kyiv–Boryspil (temporarily suspended), Medina, Moscow–Domodedovo, Multan, Mumbai, Muscat, Nagpur, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Osh, Peshawar, Quetta, Riyadh, Salalah, Sialkot, Sohag, Ta'if, Tashkent,[21] Tbilisi, Thiruvananthapuram, Trabzon, Yanbu, Yerevan
Seasonal: Antalya (begins 1 July 2022),[22][23] Bodrum (begins 1 July 2022),[24][25] Phuket,[18] Sarajevo, Sharm El Sheikh[18]
airblue Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar
Air India Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram
Air India Express Chandigarh, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Varanasi, Vijayawada
Air Peace Lagos[26]
AnadoluJet Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen[27]
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Dhaka[28]
Cham Wings Airlines Aleppo, Damascus[29]
EgyptAir Cairo
Go First Mumbai, Srinagar[30]
IndiGo Amritsar, Hyderabad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Thiruvananathpuram
Jazeera Airways Kuwait[31]
Nordwind Airlines Moscow–Sheremetyevo[32]
Pakistan International Airlines Multan, Peshawar,[33] Sialkot,[34] Turbat
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen
Qatar Airways Doha[35]
Rossiya Airlines Seasonal charter: Yekaterinburg
SereneAir Islamabad, lahore ,Peshawar
Syrian Air Damascus
Turkish Airlines Istanbul[36]
US-Bangla Airlines Dhaka[37]
Uzbekistan Airways Tashkent
Vistara Delhi[38]

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Astral Aviation[39] Eldoret, Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta
DHL Aviation Amsterdam, Bahrain, Cincinnati, Hong Kong, Lagos, Leipzig/Halle
EgyptAir Cargo[40] Cairo
Ethiopian Cargo[41] Addis Ababa
UPS Airlines[42] Cologne, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shenzhen
Singapore Airlines Cargo[43] Amsterdam, Brussels, London–Heathrow, Singapore

Statistics
Aerial view
Terminal interior
Terminal interior
A British Airways Concorde in Sharjah on 20 August 1977
Annual passenger traffic at SHJ airport. See source Wikidata query.
Traffic at Sharjah International Airport[2][44]
YearTotal passengersTotal cargoTotal aircraft movements
1999 1,001,852580,55027,577
2000 948,207475,12225,997
2001 861,478415,58724,431
2002 1,028,624497,01024,803
2003 1,247,458507,64428,017
2004 1,661,941500,92732,334
2005 2,237,646505,39238,699
2006 3,064,396569,51144,182
2007 4,324,313570,36351,314
2008 5,280,445586,67760,813
2009 5,764,098501,82461,451
2011 6,600,000417,11663,737
2012 7,516,538475,11665,975
2013 8,505,268493,40266,247
2014 9,516,600528,25070,559
2015 11,993,887586,19598,786

Ground transport

The airport is 15 km (9.3 mi) away from central Dubai.[5]

Accidents and incidents
  • On 15 December 1997, a Tupolev Tu-154 from Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashed on approach to SHJ. Some 13 km from Sharjah the plane ran into terrain and 85 of the 86 occupants died. One of the seven crew members survived the disaster.[45]
  • On 10 February 2004, Kish Air Flight 7170, operated by a Fokker 50 crashed on approach, killing 43 of its 46 occupants, which consisted of 3 crew and 40 passengers.[46][47]
  • On 7 November 2004, an Air Atlanta Boeing 747 freighter was damaged beyond repair due to an aborted take-off with insufficient runway remaining. None of the four crew was injured. The take-off was aborted after a report of smoke from the control tower and hearing a loud bang in the cockpit.[48]
  • On 21 October 2009, Azza Transport Flight 2241, operated by a Boeing 707–320, crashed on take-off. The flight was only carrying cargo and all six crew members were killed.[49][50]

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. United Arab Emirates AIP Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine (login required)
  2. "Airport Statistics". Sharjah Airport. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012.
  3. "Information for Prospective Airline". Archived from the original on 30 December 2013.
  4. "Contact Info Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine." Air Arabia. Retrieved on 21 June 2010. "Air Arabia (UAE) Air Arabia Head Quarters Sharjah Freight Center (Cargo), near Sharjah International Airport P.O. Box 132 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates"
  5. Sobie, Brendan. "Low cost & regionals: Arabian pioneers." Flight International. 23 April 2007. Retrieved on 8 February 2011. "Air Arabia's headquarters is hidden in a dated cargo terminal at Sharjah airport, a 15km (9 miles) drive from central Dubai, which should take 15 minutes but can take up to two hours during rush hour."
  6. [Brian Trubshaw and Sally Edmondson, 1998 Brian Trubshaw Test Pilot see page 142ISBN 0-7509-1838-1. ]
  7. "Stations-S". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. "Airports and ATC: nothing but the best", Flight International, 30 July 1977, p.354 (online archive version). Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  9. History of Sharjah. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  10. Sharjah – How to Get There. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  11. "USAF Historical Research Agency Document 00874269".
  12. "Yearbook & Directory 2010" (PDF). Sharjah International Airport. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2012. ... the existing runway, which at 4,060 metres is the longest in the Middle East
  13. "Financial Services | Sharjah Airport". www.sharjahairport.ae. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  14. "Sharjah Airport Travel Agency". ArabianBusiness.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  15. sharjahairport.ae - Flight Timetable retrieved 25 March 2017
  16. "Direct flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO) - FlightConnections".
  17. Nagraj, Aarti (23 October 2016). "Air Arabia to launch flights to Baku". Gulf Business. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  18. "Air Arabia".
  19. "Air Arabia to resume Qatar flights as UAE relaxes online barriers". arabianbusiness.com. 14 January 2021.
  20. "Air Arabia Adds Hail Service from August 2013".
  21. "Air Arabia". www.airarabia.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  22. "Air Arabia". Air Arabia. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  23. Air Arabia [@airarabiagroup] (21 March 2022). "Starting 1st July, fly direct from Sharjah to Antalya in Turkey" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. "Air Arabia". Air Arabia. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  25. Air Arabia [@airarabiagroup] (21 March 2022). "Starting 1st July, fly direct from Sharjah to Bodrum in Turkey" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  26. https://booking.flyairpeace.com/VARS/Public/b/flightCal.aspx#cal-accordion-0-1%5B%5D
  27. "Anadolujet'in yeni rotası belli oldu". 5 December 2021.
  28. "Biman to launch direct flights to Sharjah, UAE from 25 January". The Business Standard. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  29. chamwings.com - Where we fly retrieved 9 September 2018
  30. "Srinagar International Airport to start direct flights to Sharjah from Oct 23". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  31. Liu, Jim. "Jazeera adds Sharjah service from April 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  32. "Nordwind open's flights to Sharjah". NordwindAirlines. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  33. "Pakistan International expands Middle East network from Peshawar in 1Q19". Routesonline. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  34. Liu, Jim. "Pakistan International adds Sialkot – Sharjah service from Nov 2018". Routesonline.
  35. "Qatar Airways to Resume Flights to Sharjah, United Arab of Emirates with a Daily Flight". Qatar Airways (Press release). 6 June 2021.
  36. Borak, Mert (5 September 2018). "Turkish Airlines plans Sharjah launch in April 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  37. "US-Bangla Airlines to launch flights to Sharjah Sunday". unb.com.bd. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  38. "Vistara Flight Schedule". www.airvistara.com. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  39. "Astral Aviation begins Sharjah to Eldoret service". Logistics Update Africa. 17 March 2021.
  40. egyptair-cargo.com - Network retrieved 27 January 2021
  41. cargo.ethiopianairlines.com - Route map retrieved 27 January 2021
  42. Sharjah Cargo Departures
  43. "Singapore Airlines Cargo Flight Schedules". Singapore Airlines Cargo.
  44. Report), (Staff. "Sharjah airport records 14% growth in passengers". www.khaleejtimes.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  45. AviationSafety.net database on EY85281, retrieved 9 May 2009
  46. Khaleej Times Online: article about Kish Air crash
  47. "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT 01/04" (PDF). General Civil Aviation Authority of the UAE. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  48. AviationSafety.net database on plane:TF-APR, retrieved 9 May 2009
  49. "Six dead as cargo plane crashes at Sharjah Airport". Arabian Business. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  50. "UAE crashed cargo plane owned by Sudan's Azza Air". Reuters. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2009.

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