Houari Boumediene Airport

Houari Boumediene Airport (Arabic: مطار هواري بومدين الدولي‎‎, French: Aéroport d'Alger Houari Boumediene) (IATA: ALG, ICAO: DAAG), also known as Algiers Airport or Algiers International Airport, is an international airport serving Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is located 9.1 NM (16.9 km; 10.5 mi) east southeast of the city.

The airport is named after Houari Boumediene, a former president of Algeria. Dar El Beïda, the area at which the airport is located, was known as Maison Blanche (White House), and the airport is called Maison Blanche Airport in much of the literature about the Algerian War of Independence. The Société de Gestion des Services et Infrastructures Aéroportuaires (SGSIA), more commonly known as "Airport of Algiers", is a Public Company established on 1 November 2006 to manage and operate the airport. The SGSIA has 2,100 employees.

History

The airport was created in 1924 and named Maison Blanche Airport. During World War II, Maison Blanche Airport was a primary objective of the Allied Operation Torch Eastern Task Force on 8 November 1942 and was seized by a combination of United States Army units, British Commandos and elements of a British Infantry Division. Opposition by Vichy French forces who defended the airport ended that same day, as orders from Admiral Darlan in Algiers were issued to cease all hostilities in North Africa.

Once in Allied hands, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command as a major transshipment hub for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. It functioned as a stopover en route to Tafarquay Airport, near Oran or to Tunis Airport, Tunisia on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route. It also flew personnel and cargo to Marseille, Milan, Naples and Palermo, Sicily. In addition, Twelfth Air Force A3 SECTION under the command of Lt. Col Carter E. Duncan 1943/44, used the airport as a command and control facility, headquartering its XII Bomber Command; XXII Tactical Air Command, and the 51st Troop Carrier Wing to direct combat and support missions during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps Known Allied air force combat units assigned to the airfield were:

  • 51st Troop Carrier Wing, 23 November 1942 – 28 March 1943
  • 63d Fighter Wing, May–August 1943
  • 97th Bombardment Group, 13–22 November 1942, B-17 Flying Fortress
  • 301st Bombardment Group, 5–16 December 1942, B-17 Flying Fortress
  • 319th Bombardment Group, 24–12 November 1942, B-26 Marauder
  • 14th Fighter Group, 18–22 November 1942, P-38 Lightning
  • 350th Fighter Group, May–July 1943, P-38 Lightning
  • 3d Reconnaissance Group, 25 December 1942 – 13 June 1943, (various photo reconnaissance aircraft)

Terminals

The International Terminal (Terminal 1) presents a capacity of 6 million passengers per year. It was inaugurated on 5 July 2006 by the President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. International traffic is 2.5 million passengers per year, and the terminal holds 5000 car parking spaces, a taxi stand, a boarding area of 27,000 m², and 16 passenger gates.

The Domestic Terminal (Terminal 2), renovated in 2007, has a capacity of 2.5 million passengers per year. It offers conditions of comfort and security comparable to those of Terminal 1. Its domestic traffic is 1.5 million passengers per year. Terminal 2 is equipped with 20 check-in desks with a cafeteria, tearoom and prayer room. The terminal also has a pharmacy, perfumery, a hairdresser, watch retailers, luggage shops, games and toys as well as a tobacco/newspaper shop. There are 900 car parking spaces, a taxi stand, a boarding area of 5,000 m², with 7 gates, a luggage delivery area, and lounges for premium passengers.

Prior to Terminal 2's opening, Terminal 3 was used for operating domestic flights. In 2007, the terminal's use changed to pilgrimage and charter flights.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines have scheduled services to Houari Boumediene Airport as of April 2015:

Passenger

Airlines Destinations Terminal-Hall
Aigle Azur Basel/Mulhouse, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Paris–Orly, Toulouse
Seasonal: Bordeaux(resumes 16 June 2017), Paris-Charles de Gaulle
1-1
Air Algérie Alicante, Amman–Queen Alia, Bamako, Barcelona, Beijing–Capital, Beirut, Bordeaux, Brussels, Budapest, Cairo, Casablanca, Dakar, Dubai-International, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul–Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Jeddah, Lille, Lisbon, London–Heathrow, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Medina, Metz/Nancy, Milan–Malpensa, Montpellier, Montréal–Trudeau, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Niamey, Nice, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris–Orly, Rome–Fiumicino, Toulouse, Tunis, Vienna
Seasonal: Berlin–Schönefeld, Porto(resumes 18 June 2017)
1-2
Air Algérie Adrar, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Bordj Mokhtar, Chlef, Constantine, Djanet, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Golea, El Oued, Ghardaia, Hassi Messaoud, Hassi R'Mel, Illizi, In Amenas, In Salah, Jijel, Laghouat, Mascara, Oran, Ouargla, Setif, Tamanrasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tlemcen, Touggourt 2
Air Canada Rouge Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau (begins 27 June 2017) TBA
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle 1-1
Alitalia Rome–Fiumicino 1-1
Atlas Atlantique Airlines Châlons-Vatry 1-1
British Airways London–Gatwick 1-1
EgyptAir Cairo 1-1
Emirates Dubai-International 1-1
Iberia Madrid 1-1
Libyan Airlines Tripoli 1-1
Lufthansa Frankfurt 1-1
Nouvelair Tunis 1-1
Qatar Airways Doha 1-1
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca 1-1
Royal Jordanian Amman–Queen Alia 1-1
Saudia Jeddah, Medina 1-1
Syrian Air Damascus 1-1
TAP Portugal
operated by TAP Express
Lisbon 1-1
Tassili Airlines Marseille, Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Strasbourg 1-2
Tassili Airlines Adrar, Annaba, Béchar, Biskra, Constantine, Djanet, El Bayadh, El Oued, Ghardaia, Hassi Messaoud, Hassi R'Mel, Illizi, In Salah, Oran, Setif, Tamanrasset, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tlemcen 2
Transavia France Lyon
Seasonal: Nantes
1-1
TUIfly Belgium Charleroi 1-1
Tunisair Tunis 1-1
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk
Seasonal: Antalya (begins 9 July 2017)
1-1
Vueling Alicante, Barcelona, Marseille, Valencia
Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca
1-1

Cargo

Airlines Destinations
Air Algérie Cargo Dubai-International, Frankfurt, Istanbul-Atatürk, London-Heathrow, Lyon, Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, Tunis
Air France Cargo Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Cargolux Luxembourg
Emirates SkyCargo Dubai–Al Maktoum
Royal Air Maroc Cargo Brussels, Casablanca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Royal Jordanian Cargo Amman-Queen Alia, Maastricht/Aachen
Swiftair Madrid
Turkish Airlines Cargo Istanbul-Atatürk, Milan-Malpensa, Zürich

Statistics

ABJ
CAI
BEY
MED
JED
DXB
DKR
NIM
NKC
TIP
OUA
African & Near East Destinations from Algiers
Montreal
All Transatlantic Destinations from Algiers
Traffic by calendar year. Official ACI Statistics
Passengers Change from previous year Aircraft operations Change from previous year Cargo
(metric tons)
Change from previous year
2005 3,403,453 2.13% 48,347 0.01% 22,580 5.71%
2006 3,483,340 2.35% 48,288 0.12% 20,626 8.65%
2007 3,804,731 9.23% 49,724 2.97% 20,926 1.45%
2008 4,126,795 8.46% 54,649 9.90% 22,800 8.96%
2009 4,474,623 8.43% 61,554 12.64% 21,931 3.81%
2010 4,346,654 2.86% 61,066 0.79% 19,233 12.30%
2011 4,720,459 8.60% 64,191 5.12% 22,466 16.81%
2012 5,404,971 14.50% 66,423 3.48% 25,359 12.88%
2013 5,919,685 9.52% 72,676 9.41% 30,310 19.52%
2014 6 457 795 9.16%
2015 6 900 000 9.35%

Ground transport

Car

The distance to the center of Algiers is 20 km using the route N5 direct Bab Ezzouar. A1 also connects with N5 to the airport. Taxis service the airport to downtown Algiers.

Parking

The airport has a 7,000 capacity with two car parks located north of the terminals.

Bus

Buses link the airport to downtown Algiers every 30 minutes during the day.

Subway

The Algiers Metro Line L1 extension will connect the airport with the centre of Algiers.

Suburban rail

Suburban rail does not connect directly with the airport, but the closest station is at Dar El Baida.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 23 July 1968, three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked El Al Flight 426, a Boeing 707 with 48 other people on board and diverted it to the airport. They eventually released all 48 hostages unharmed.
  • On 20 January 1981, the 52 United States embassy hostages arrived at the airport after they departed Tehran, Iran.
  • On 26 August 1992, a bomb at the airport killed nine people and injured 128. Several people were arrested in connection with the bombing, including Hossein Abderrahim, a member of the Islamic FIS political party. He was executed in 1993. In 2002, Abdelghani Ait Haddad, sentenced to death in his absence, took refuge in the United Kingdom after residing in France for nine years.
  • On 24 December 1994, Air France Flight 8969, an Airbus A300 bound for Paris, was seized by four Islamic terrorists before take off; three passengers were killed before departure. In Marseille, France, a special operations team of the French Gendarmerie stormed the aircraft and killed all four hijackers; 25 passengers were injured.
  • On 24 July 2014, Air Algérie Flight 5017 en route from Ouagadougou Airport, Burkina Faso to Houari Boumediene Airport, Algeria crashed about 50 minutes after take-off. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was carrying 112 passenger and 6 crew from 15 nationalities. The aircraft crashed southeast of Gossi, Mali. There were no survivors. It was the third major aircraft accident in a one-week span and the second with no survivors.

References

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

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

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Tips & Hints
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Jinn Xu
22 April 2018
Huge traffic in the city and slow queues inside. They start boarding very early, I was told the last one 45 minutes before the departure. And the gate changes without broadcast, so watch yourself.
Hitch Yaz
6 December 2019
The new terminal is very good. Finally something respectable for this country. They just need to allow free WiFi in the airport.
Nas Benali
7 November 2014
This airport has made a lot of improvement over the years. Airline staff are very nice in general. Lots of people here, so come early. Tightest security ever.
Veysel Soylu
14 February 2016
Cezayir'e gelmenin en güzel yanı, Türkiye'ye dönüşüdür. Bu havalimanı da sırf o yüzden sevilir.
Volkan Saçilik
25 June 2014
Soz konusu Turkiye'ye donmek ise, dunyanin en guzel havalimani. Tipki diger Afrika ulkelerinde oldugu gibi :)
Baran Eriş
13 October 2016
İçeride sigara içme yeri de bulunan havalimanı. Buradaki dükkanlardan Cezayir'in meşhur hurmasını ve yerel üretim şaraplarını alabilirsiniz. Çok zengin olmamakla beraber freeshop da var.
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Аrtem Kolganov and 39,277 more people have been here

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