Allama Iqbal International Airport
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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 city, Lahore. It is named after Allama Iqbal who was a major proponent for the foundation of Pakistan.
Location
The airport is located about 15 km from the center of the city. It is 712 Ft above sea level.
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 35-40 flights each day and handles about 3,000,000 passengers annually, but the number is bound to increase due to the renovations made. By 2015, Allama Iqbal International Airport is expected to be one of the busiest airports in Asia.
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.
Pakistan International Airlines is a major airline that flies out of Lahore as the flag carrier of Pakistan. Other Pakistani airlines that fly many flights out of Lahore daily are Aero Asia Airlines, Airblue, and Shaheen Air International.
Airlines
- Aero Asia Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Doha, Dubai, Islamabad, Karachi, Muscat, Multan, Peshawar)
- Airblue (Dubai, Karachi, Islamabad, Newabshah, Peshawar, Quetta)
- Air India (Bilateral Agreement)
- Bhoja Air (Dubai, Karachi, Peshawar, Sharjah)
- Emirates (Dubai)
- Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi)
- Gulf Air (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Muscat)
- Indian Airlines (Delhi)
- Kuwait Airways (Kuwait)
- Pakistan International Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Almaty, Amsterdam, Bahawalpur, Bangkok, Chicago O'hare, Copenhagen, Dammam, Delhi, Dera Ismail Khan, Dhahran, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Houston, Hyderabad, Jeddah, Kuwait, London Heathrow, Los Angeles(Starts 2006), Manchester, Milan /Malpensa, Moenjodaro, Muscat, Mushad, New York JFK, Oslo, Paris CDG, Riyadh, Tashkent, Toronto, Rahim Yar Khan, Rome Fiumicino, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, Sukkur, Zohb)
- Pearl Air (Karachi)
- Qatar Airways (Doha)
- Royal Jordanian (Amman)
- Saudi Arabian Airlines (Jeddah, Riyadh)
- Singapore Airlines (Singapore, Karachi) *Starting services on Feb. 1, 2006
- Shaheen Air (Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, Doha, Dubai, Islamabad, Kuwait, Karachi, Muscat, Peshawar, Quetta)
- Swe Fly (London, New York/JFK, Oslo, Stockholm) *Starting services in 2006
- Thai Airways International (Bangkok)
Cargo Airlines
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 terrorists fighting legitimate rule of India in Kashmir. The aircraft landed at Lahore International Airport for a few hours and left for Kabul, Afganistan.