The Cairo International Airport is the second biggest airport in Africa after OR Tambo Airport in South Africa. The airport is located in Heliopolis in the North East of Cairo and covers an area of 37 kilometres. It currently has 3 terminals and and a fourth called seasonal flight terminal that was the most recent extension to the airport done in 2011.
Cairo Airport Expansion
TThe Egyptian government has had plans to construct a 4th terminal at the Cairo International Airport. This is part of a larger plan to increase the airport’s capacity and was announced way back in 2019.
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority has carried out the necessary studies to facilitate the construction at the Airport. The 4th terminal is expected to reduce density within the remaining three terminals of the airport.
Upgrading of the airport
The company has already omplemented certain projects to upgrade the Cairo International Airport’s efficiency. The upgrades ensure that the airport can sustain the targeted increased capacity. Some of the other projects have included: the update to an integrated system for handling baggage and the development of the first terminal. The airport is looking to increase the annual total capacity of passengers to 30 million.
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“The upgrade plan includes raising the efficiency of Terminal 1 to increase capacity from 6 to 10 million passengers. This was completed in 2003. The terminal now consists of 3 levels namely a ground floor, first floor and a mezzanine. The project was caried out over 3 phases with the 1st phase covering the renovation of the ground floor. The ground floor contains the main access doors, bar, cafeteria, main duty free shops, boutiques, and transit/ transfer facilities.
The second phase covered imprvement of the upper floor, which includes lounges, cafes and the car parking area. First and business class lounges are located in the mezzanine floor. .
The third phase, that was completed by the end of 2003, included the completion of a 1960’s cafe overlooking the runway as well as duty free shops.
Upgrading the efficiency of Terminal 3 was also done in which it was upgraded from domestic to international. An underground parking garage was also built to cater for long term parking travellers.
The planned Terminal 4 will further enhance the overall size of the airport and further boost its capacity though it is not celar when the project will take off.
