Ras Al Khaimah International Airport

Coordinates: 25°36′48″N 055°56′20″E / 25.61333°N 55.93889°E / 25.61333; 55.93889
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Ras Al Khaimah International Airport
(Ra's al-Khaymah)

مطار رأس الخيمة الدولي
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorDepartment of Civil Aviation
LocationRas al-Khaimah
Hub forAir Arabia
Time zoneUAE Standard Time (UTC+04:00)
Elevation AMSL94 ft / 29 m
Coordinates25°36′48″N 055°56′20″E / 25.61333°N 55.93889°E / 25.61333; 55.93889
Websiterakairport.com
Map
RKT is located in United Arab Emirates
RKT
RKT
Location in the UAE
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 3,760 12,336 Asphalt
Sources: UAE AIP[1]

Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (IATA: RKT, ICAO: OMRK) (alternatively Ra's al-Khaymah, Arabic: مطار رأس الخيمة الدولي) is an international airport located in the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi) south[1] of Ras Al Khaimah, on the coast of the Persian Gulf. The airport has two passenger terminal buildings as well as cargo, aircraft maintenance, and aviation training facilities.[2]

History[edit]

Terminal interior

In 1976, the airport was inaugurated by the long-time ruler, Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qasimi. Ras Al Khaimah International Airport did not develop into an international aviation hub like Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport or a regional aviation hub like Sharjah International Airport.

In 2007, RAK Airways started operating as the national airline with a hub at the airport. It suspended regular operations in 2008 due to the global economic crisis. It relaunched in 2010 with new branding and management, but suspended operations permanently in 2013.[3][4][5]

In 2014, Air Arabia started its commercial flights to different destinations including Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh following the suspension of RAK Airways. Ras-al-Khaimah has been designated as an hub for Air Arabia for a period of ten years, extendable thereafter.[6]

The airport was the second among Arab states of the Persian Gulf to secure the ISO 9001: 2000 accreditation for quality management.[7] Currently, Ras Al Khaimah International Airport is being refocused with efforts to attract cargo business, in particular from establishments under the Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone.[8]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Ras Al Khaimah Airport:

Passenger[edit]

AirlinesDestinations
Air Arabia Cairo, Islamabad, Kozhikode,[9] Lahore, Peshawar
Air India Express Kannur (begins 1 May 2024),[10] Kozhikode, Lucknow (begins 2 May 2024)[11]
IndiGo Hyderabad,[12] Mumbai
Qatar Airways Doha[13]
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Munich[14]
Smartwings Seasonal charter: Prague

Cargo[edit]

AirlinesDestinations
IndiGo CarGo Mumbai[15]

Statistics[edit]

Annual passenger traffic at RKT airport. See Wikidata query.

Accidents and incidents[edit]

  • In July 1998, a Ukrainian Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane took off from the airport and crash landed into the sea nearby. All 8 crew members on board died.[16]

In popular culture[edit]

In 2015, Ras Al Khaimah Airport served as the set for the filming of the Hindi film Airlift starring Akshay Kumar.[17]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b United Arab Emirates AIP Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine (login required)
  2. ^ "Ras Al Khaimah International Airport-Management Team". rakairport.com.
  3. ^ "RAK Airways takes to the skies at long last". Arabian Business.
  4. ^ "RAK Airways: A timeline". Arabian Supply Chain.
  5. ^ "RAK Airways Not Coming Back". Gulf News. 30 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Air Arabia to become official carrier of Ras Al Khaimah". Arabian Business.
  7. ^ "RAK airport woos European carriers".
  8. ^ "Ras Al Khaimah International Airport - AirlinesHQ.com". airlineshq.com. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Air Arabia".
  10. ^ Ameya (19 March 2024). "Air India Express adds international flights this summer, focus on Kannur". Network Thoughts. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Air India Express 2Q24 Middle East Network Additions". AeroRoutes. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  12. ^ "INDIGO ADDS HYDERABAD – RAS AL KHAIMAH SERVICE IN LATE-2Q23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Qatar Airways confirms major network expansion and resumption of flights to 11 cities". Aviacionline.com. 7 March 2023.
  14. ^ "SmartLynx connects Munich with Ras Al Khaimah for FTI" (in German). 16 March 2023.
  15. ^ "A look at routes where IndiGo has deployed its freighters". JetArena. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  16. ^ "July 13, 1998: Cargo plane crashes off Ras Al Khaimah | Today History – Gulf News". 12 July 2018.
  17. ^ "Akshay Kumar shoots film in Ras Al Khaimah". Deccan Chronicle. 20 March 2015.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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