Rhea International Airport
| Rhea International Airport مطار آل ريا ة الدولي Maṭār al-Reyāh al-Dawlyy | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | RIA Group S.A.M. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Rhea, Gandhara | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jamalabad | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Gandhara Airways | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Elevation AMSL | 5,059 ft / 1,542 m | ||||||||||||||||||
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Rhea International Airport (Arabic: مطار آل ريا ة الدولي; Maṭār al-Reyāh al-Dawlyy) (IATA: RIA, ICAO: OGRA) is the main international airport of Gandhara, located 21 km (13 mi) northeast of the centre of Rhea, lying in the municipality of Jamalabad, governorate of Sadat. The airport is built as one large terminal, split into three large departure halls, where all its facilities are located. It is the busiest airport in Gandhara and the third busiest airport in Outernatia in terms of passengers, handling just under 54 million passengers in 2016.
The airport is the hub and primary maintenance base for Gandhara Airways, and also serves as a base for A+ Airlines, Air Nura, Freehan Airways, and Kimmy Airlines. Over ninety airlines operate out of the airport, with non-stop or direct flights to destinations across Aurora, Internatia, and Outernatia.
History
Early years
Originally named Mensurabad Airport, after the nearby village of Mensurabad, the airport opened on 30 July 1933 as a military airbase. Civil aviation started in June 1936 when Gandhara Airwork, the predecessor of Gandhara Airways, commenced operations and the airport eventually lost its military role completely. A new terminal was completed in 1949 and it was decided that the airport would become the primary airport of Gandhara. The airport was renamed to Rhea International Airport in 1967.
Since 1992, the airport is owned and operated by RIA Group S.A.M., with the Gandhari Ministry of Finance holding 57.36% of the shares, while the municipalities of Rhea (20.02%) and Jamalabad (14.62%), and private investors (8.00%) hold the rest of the shares.
Development since the 2000s
The construction of a new Air Traffic Control tower was completed in 2001. The tower is 56.9 m (187 ft) high and it has an area of 1,100 m² (11,840 sq ft).