Abha International Airport ( ar, مطار أبهـــا الدولي, ) is an airport in Abha, the capital of

'Asir Province The ʿAsir Region ( ar, عَسِيرٌ, ʿAsīr, lit=difficult) is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The airport has services to several domestic airports within the Kingdom. It also offers international flights to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

and

Sana'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, and nonstop flights to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. The site was a new construction area between the cities of

Khamis Mushait Khamis Mushayt or Khamis Mushait ( ar, خميس مشيط, ') is a city in south-west Saudi Arabia, located east of Abha, the provincial seat of the 'Asir Province, 650 nautical miles from Dhahran and from the national capital of Riyadh. It is t ...

and Abha, and served both equally. Construction of the airport was started in mid-1975 by Laing Wimpey Alireza. Earlier, domestic flights had been handled at the military airport near Khamis Mushait. The airport was launched in 1977. The construction was carried out by the Bin Trif Airport ltd (an Indian Airport company).

Facilities

The airport resides at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

designated 13/31 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface measuring .

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights:

Houthi attacks

The airport has been frequently targeted by Houthi forces during the

Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: *Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 *Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 *North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 *Aden Emergency, 1963–67 *South Yemen#Di ...

. It was initially attacked by the

Houthi movement The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist, Islamist political and armed move ...

on 12 June 2019, injuring 26 people. On 23 June 2019, the Houthis launched another attack on the airport, leaving a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n national dead and 21 injured. The airport was attacked again by missiles on 2 July 2019, leaving nine injured. Another attack against the airport by Houthi forces was folded on August 31, 2020, when a bomb-laden drone was detected flying to it and intercepted, along with a remotely controlled boat off the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, which was also filled with explosives and ready for an attack. On 10 February 2021, Houthis used four drones to carry out a drone strike on the airport, damaging a civilian aircraft (a

Flyadeal flyadeal ( ar, طيران أديل) is a Saudi low-cost airline based at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. It is owned by Saudi flag carrier Saudia. The airline began operation on 23 September 2017 serving domestic destinations. H ...

Airbus A320) and starting a fire. A Houthi spokesman said the attack was in response to

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

s and other actions in

. On 31 August 2021, the airport was again attacked by Houthi drones, leaving 8 wounded.

References

External links

* * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abha Regional Airport 1977 establishments in Saudi Arabia Airports established in 1977 Airports in Saudi Arabia Abha 'Asir Province

Facilities

Airlines and destinations

Houthi attacks

See also

References

External links