Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Aswan International Airport lies in the desert some 16 kilometres southwest of Aswan in southern Egypt, close to the Nile, the Aswan Dam and the Philae Temple. It is a long-established gateway to Egypt's Nubian south, built for military use in the 1950s and opened to civilian traffic as tourism to the region grew, and it now offers a single long, ILS-equipped runway well suited to both airliner and general aviation operations.
Aswan International Airport (ICAO: HESN, IATA: ASW) serves the city of Aswan and the wider Nubian region of southern Egypt, acting as the principal air gateway for visitors to the Aswan Dam, Philae Temple and, via onward connections, the Abu Simbel temples. It began life as a military airfield and later grew into a full international airport under government operation. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its very long single runway, full ILS approach and its striking desert and Nile-side setting, making it an interesting destination for both airliner and general aviation flights.
The airport sits in the desert approximately 16 kilometres southwest of Aswan city, on the eastern side of the Nile valley in Aswan Governorate, southern Egypt. It shares the general area with the Aswan Military Air Base, of which the airport forms a part, and lies within reach of the Aswan Dam and the Philae Temple to the northeast. It is a controlled aerodrome, with approach and tower services provided over its own frequencies.
Aswan has a single physical runway, 17/35, orientated almost exactly north-south. It is a hard-surfaced, lit runway measuring approximately 11,140 feet (about 3,400 metres) in length, among the longer runways found in Egypt. An instrument landing system serves runway 35, giving a precision approach for arrivals from the north.
Pilots should expect the following frequencies at Aswan: Approach (APP) on 119.35 MHz, Tower (TWR) on 118.3 MHz, and Radar/Emergency (EMR) on 121.9 MHz, with a fire/rescue frequency (RDO) of 585.9 MHz. Runway 35 is equipped with an ILS, providing a precision instrument approach; no other navaids are noted here.
No specific published joining or circuit procedures, circuit heights, or noise abatement restrictions for Aswan are available from the sources consulted; pilots should follow standard Egyptian ATC instructions and local procedures issued by Approach and Tower on the frequencies given above.
No formal published visual reference points are detailed in the available sources. Useful general landmarks in the vicinity include the Nile River and its western bank settlements, the Aswan Dam, and the Philae Temple complex, all lying to the northeast of the airport, with the airfield itself set apart in open desert terrain southwest of Aswan city.
The airport originates from a proposal made in 1956 and was built in the following years for military use, with the field opening in 1960 as part of the Aswan Military Air Base. It began accepting civilian flights as Aswan developed as a tourist destination, and the airport was upgraded in 1992 and again in 1999 to expand capacity and modernise its infrastructure. The airfield's history includes two serious accidents: on 17 October 1963 an Egyptian Air Force Ilyushin Il-14 military transport crashed at the airport, killing 14 people, and on 20 March 1969 a United Arab Airlines Ilyushin Il-18 crashed while attempting to land, with 100 of the 105 people on board losing their lives.
Aswan International Airport today operates as a domestic and international airport despite its name, handling scheduled services from carriers including EgyptAir, Air Cairo and Nile Air to destinations such as Cairo and Abu Simbel, along with seasonal charter and international connections. It remains co-located with the Aswan Military Air Base. The airport has a single passenger terminal handling both international and domestic traffic, alongside its long ILS-served runway, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for simulator flights into southern Egypt.
