Imam Khomeini International Airport

'''Imam Khomeini International Airport''' (In Persian: فرودگاه بین‌المللی امام خمینی) is located in Tehran, Iran. The airport is located about 30 kilometers south of the city. The airport was designed to replace Mehrabad International Airport, which is in the west of the city, now inside the city boundaries. The Airport is named after Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Revolution of Iran in 1979.

History

The construction, which began in 1994, was done by Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV) consortium, a group of Turkish and Austrian companies. The original opening was scheduled for February 1, 2004, the onset of the auspicious Ten-Day Dawn (February 1-11) celebrations, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. There were numerous issues surrounding the construction of the airport including the supply of fuel to the new airport, and a delay in signing a deal with the Iranian oil ministry forced a delay in the opening of the airport until May 8, 2004. Just prior to the opening on May 8, two local airlines refused to switch to the new airport. Economic Hayat-e No daily quoted Ali Abedzadeh, director of semi-privately-owned Aseman Airline, as saying "We are not flying from an airport run by foreigners". TAV officials were ordered to withdraw their personnel and equipment from the airport on May 7, and operations were handed over to Iran Air. "I think they (the military) were given false reports that the Turks were still on the site, while they had all evacuated the airport by Friday," airport manager Hussein Pirouzi said. However, on May 8, a few hours after the opening of airport, the Revolutionary Guards of the Iranian Armed Forces, citing security fears over the use of foreigners in the running of the airport. Only one Emirates flight from Dubai was allowed to land. The second flight from Dubai, which was an Iran Air flight, was forced to land in Isfahan International Airport, because the Mehrabad Airport didn't allow it to land there after the Imam Khomeini airport was closed by the armed forces. The rest of the flights were diverted to Mehrabad. On May 11, in a meeting of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Turkish expressed uneasiness about the actions of the Iranian military. The airport reopened on May 13, as deputy head of the Chief Staff of the Armed Forces Brigadier Ali Afshar stated "Because foreign companies will no longer be in charge of the airport's operation, security obstacles are removed." TAV officials, who had agreed to clear out for two weeks for the dispute to be settled, also stated that they believed the the memorandum of understanding they signed with the Iranian government last year to operate the airport's Terminal 1 is still in effect.

External link

• BBC on closing of airport by the armed forces

Category:Airports of Iran ro:Aeroportul Internaţional Imam Khomeini

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