Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kabul International Airport, formerly Hamid Karzai International Airport, is Afghanistan's principal international gateway, sited in the Khwaja Rawash area on the northern edge of Kabul and ringed by the peaks of the Hindu Kush. Operated jointly by GAAC Holding and the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, it serves as the hub for Ariana Airlines and Kam Air and has a long and eventful history stretching back to the 1920s.
Kabul International Airport sits at high altitude on the edge of the Afghan capital and is the country's main international aerodrome, handling both civil and, historically, extensive military traffic. It is a hub for Ariana Airlines and Kam Air, with international carriers including Air Arabia, Flydubai and Turkish Airlines also serving the field. For a simulator pilot the airport offers a demanding high-altitude, mountain-ringed environment with a long single runway pair and a turbulent modern history that makes it a distinctive destination.
The airport lies at Khwaja Rawash on the northern outskirts of Kabul, within the Kabul wilayat, and sits at an elevation of 5,869 feet amid the surrounding Hindu Kush mountains, which dominate the approach and departure environment. It is operated by GAAC Holding together with Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, 11,492 feet long with a hard surface. It is lit and equipped with an ILS on runway 29.
Air traffic services are provided on Approach/Departure 131.6 MHz, Ground 120.3 MHz and Tower 129.4 MHz. Runway 29 is served by an ILS.
The field lies northeast of central Kabul in the Khwaja Rawash district, with the high peaks of the Hindu Kush forming a prominent and unmistakable backdrop to the approach and departure paths.
The airport traces its origins to the 1920s under King Amanullah Khan, when it housed aircraft of the Afghan Air Force and Afghan Post at a site a short distance south of the present location, near Chaman-e-Hozori. The first international flight, to Tashkent in the Soviet Union, took off from here in 1927. Soviet engineers modernised the airfield in 1960, building a concrete runway and terminal, after which it became known as Kabul Airport, having previously been called Khwaja Rawash Airport. Tourist traffic through the airport ended with the 1978 Saur Revolution and the 1979 Soviet invasion. Following the US-led invasion after the September 11 attacks, the airport was bombed by American and coalition forces; it was subsequently developed under ISAF control, gaining a new radar system in 2005 that was upgraded by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2010. A new international terminal, funded with Japanese aid, opened in 2008 and began full international operations in 2009. In 2014 the airport was renamed Hamid Karzai International Airport in honour of the former president, a name it carried until 2021, when the Taliban's return to power saw it reverted to Kabul International Airport. The airport was the scene of chaotic scenes during the August 2021 evacuation, when thousands of people converged on the field seeking to leave the country as NATO forces withdrew.
Kabul International Airport currently serves as the hub for Ariana Airlines and Kam Air, with international services also operated by carriers such as Air Arabia, Flydubai and Turkish Airlines. The field is operated by GAAC Holding in conjunction with Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, and retains separate terminal facilities for international and domestic traffic alongside a number of former military areas once used by US and NATO forces.