Taba International Airport
Taba International Airport (Arabic: مطار طابا الدولي) (IATA: TCP, ICAO: HETB) is an international airport located on the Sinai Plateau,[3] with an elevation of 2,470 ft,[4] and serves Taba, Egypt. It has only one gate from which mainly charter flights operate. The Taba VOR-DME (Ident: TBA) is located 0.43 nautical miles off the threshold of runway 22.[5][6]
Taba International Airport مطار طابا الدولي | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
Operator | Government | ||||||||||||||
Serves | Taba, Egypt | ||||||||||||||
Location | Taba | ||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 2,415 ft / 736 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 29°35′16″N 34°46′41″E | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
TCP Location of airport in Sinai | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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History
The airport was constructed by Israel in 1972 during its occupation of Sinai following the Six-Day War. Known as the Etzion Air Force Base,[7] it was demilitarized in 1979 with the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Then Israel's "Golden Eagle", "Phoenix", and "Smashing Parrot" squadrons moved out and the land there was restored to Egyptian control.[8]
A condition of that peace treaty allows tourists to visit certain areas in Egypt, near Taba, for up to 14 days, without a visa. So from Israel and Jordan, travelers and tourists cross the border at Taba, in buses to visit resorts.[9] Egyptian taxis can take fares up to the Israel border but no further.[10]
The airport is located 13 kilometers from Taba and 30 kilometers from Taba Heights, near El Nakb, and adjacent with Eilat, Israel. The airport was named El Nakb Airport. A new terminal building and night lighting[11] was added and the airport was then renamed Taba International Airport in November 2000.[3]
The airport receives charter flights.[12] Traffic at the airport declined considerably. In 2014, the airport served 41,142 and in 2015, only 13,488 (a 67.2% decline).[13] In 2016, it was announced that Thales Group would be modernizing Air Traffic Management at Taba International Airport.[14]
In May 2018, it was announced charter flights to the airport would resume, initially with flights from Poland and then from the Czech Republic.[15][16]
Airlines and destinations
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Blue Panorama Airlines | Seasonal charter: Katowice,[17] Vilnius[18] |
Smartwings | Seasonal charter: Prague[19] |
Smartwings Slovakia | Seasonal charter: Bratislava[20] |
Smartwings Poland | Seasonal charter: Katowice,[21] Warsaw–Chopin[21][16] |
References
- Airport information for HETB at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- Airport information for TCP at Great Circle Mapper.
- "Tours in Egypt- Discover Taba". Always Egypt. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016.
- "Israel Air Force". Aeroflight. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009.
- TBA VOR Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- SkyVector Aeronautical Charts Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Schubert, Frank N. Building Air Bases in the Negev: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Israel 1979-1982 (PDF). p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 December 2016.
- "Bases". The Israeli Air Force. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013.
- DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Egypt. DK. 2 February 2016. ISBN 9781465453204.
- "Taba International Airport". Airport Authority. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017.
- DGS Heathrow Reference Catalogue Idman AFL (PDF). Safe Gate. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 November 2016.
- Smith, Oliver (4 May 2011). "Taba Heights, Egypt: the perfect break" (Travel). Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
- "Egypt: air travel's sensitivity to geopolitical events shows in falling international seat numbers". Centre for Aviation. 5 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
- "Thales Modernises Air Traffic Management at Egypt's Hurghada and Taba International Airports". Thales Group. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- Al-Aees, Shaimaa (15 May 2018). "Tourism investors present recommendations to parliament's tourism, civil aviation committee to develop sector". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
- "Taba, Egypt, to resume charter flights in mid-4Q18". ch-aviation.com. 11 October 2018.
- "Pasazer.com: Blue Panorama zbazuje w Polsce dwie maszyny. Obsłuży rejsy dla Itaki". Pasazer.com.
- "Taba". itaka.lt.
- "Taba". cedok.cz.
- "Travel Service Slovensko adds Bratislava – Taba from May 2019". routesonline.com. 3 May 2019.
- "air and charter tickets". itaka.pl.