Kuwait International Airport
29°14'15"N 47°58'26"E
Kuwait International Airport (KIA) is one of the world's most modern air transportation gateways utilising a host of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to handle five million passengers yearly. In 2001, KIA handled 16,452 arrivals, 16,547 departures, 3,824,389 passangers and 111,385 metric tonnes of freight. The airport's cargo terminal, capable of simultaneously accommodating up to seven freighters, is one of the best equipped in the Gulf region. The newly refurbished ATC tower uses primary and secondary surveillance radars to control the safe flow of traffic at the airport and across Kuwaiti airspace as well as monitoring movements up to 250 nautical miles away.
Kuwait International Airport is 16km (10mi) south of Kuwait City. KIA is served by two Class 1 runways, measuring 11,483 x148 and 11,152 x 148 respectively. Kuwait International Airport is one of the world's most modern air transportation gateways utilising a host of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. By world standards, Kuwait International Airport is small, with only a dozen or so gates, formed into a T shape, however the number of flights landing there is also small. Its spacious terminal building offers passengers the high levels of comfort, efficiency and convenience that you would expect from Kuwait's premier international airport. The airport's cargo terminal, capable of simultaneously accommodating up to seven freighters, is one of the best equipped in the Gulf region.
Kuwait is a small country and many of the challenges of distribution of goods and services found in other, larger countries do not exist in Kuwait. Kuwait International Airport is located south of the city and is easily accessed by expressway. It has a number of regular flights to destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia and can handle the world's largest aircraft. Kuwait's road system is well developed, with modern multi-lane expressways linking all areas of the country. There are no railways in the country.
In 1979 Kuwait Aviation Fueling Company (KAFCO) carried out major extensions to its airport depot, storage facilities and fuelling fleet. The new site, which now measures nearly 115,000 square metres, was equipped with six new storage tanks, each with a capacity of 4.5 million litres, giving a total storage capacity of approximately 30 million litres - sufficient to supply the airport for three weeks. Six hydrant pumps, each capable of delivering 9000 litres per minute, now service the 1500 aircraft refuelling at Kuwait's International Airport each month.
The Gulf War ground offensive began on 24 February. First Marine Expeditionary Force's two divisions attacked abreast, 2d on the left and 1st on the right. The plan was to penetrate into the depth of the Iraqi defensive system at an identified weak point at the "elbow" of Kuwait in order to outflank the prepared defensive positions and quickly destroy Iraqi operational reserves. The 1st Division attacked toward Al Jaber Airfield. It would continue the attack to capture Marine expeditionary force Objective B, Kuwait International Airport, in order to isolate Kuwait City. Marines defeated the Iraqis in a major battle at Kuwait International Airport, ending the last organized Iraqi resistance in Kuwait.
The Pentagon said the existence or use of chemical weapons at this site in Kuwait during the Gulf War was unlikely. Gunnery Sgt. George Grass, a Fox chemical warfare detection vehicle commander, reported reported a Feb. 28, 1991, incident at Kuwait International Airport. While inspecting an ammunition supply point, the Fox crew reported alerting on traces of three different chemical agents within 100 meters of each other. The mass spectrometer operator printed tapes of the three alarms, which Grass passed up through his chain of command to Central Command headquarters. The next day, an explosive ordnance disposal team inspection produced negative results, and during cleanup operations after the war, no chemical weapons were found at the supply point. Follow-up investigations determined it was unlikely any chemical weapons were stored there.
After liberation, Mohamed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons [the country's largest general contractor] was one of the few local firms able to start immediate work on the reconstruction of the country and was the only local contractor prequalified by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which co-ordinated the emergency works programme. It rebuilt the gutted National Assembly building in just six months, repaired much of the war damage in central Kuwait City and reconstructed the import cargo complex at Kuwait International Airport.
US Air Force MH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters were deployed on C-5 Galaxy aircraft at the Kuwait International Airport in September 1996. The helicopters and crew members were from the 48th Rescue Squadron, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and were deployed to Kuwait to respond in the event any U.S. or coalition airmen are downed in the region.
In February 1998, the Civil Aviation Authority of Kuwait awarded a contract to supply and commission a new ground lighting system for one of the two main runways of Kuwait International Airport. This upgrading also includes the remote control system in the tower and substations. Kuwait International Airport thus complies fully with the ICAO CAT II standard.
The first planeload of U.S. Army armored and helicopter troops from Fort Stewart, Georgia, landed at Kuwait International Airport on 18 February 1998. They were part of a contingent of 3,000 infantry troops who received orders last week to join the U.S. force of 25,000 already in the Gulf region. In late winter and early spring 1998, several Tunner Loaders deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Moron Air Base, Spain, and Kuwait International Airport to support the surge of troops into Southwest Asia in response to Iraq's noncompliance with United Nations inspectors.
On December, 10, 1999, a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules made an emergency landing without landing gear at Kuwait City International Airport while conducting a routine, intra-theater airlift mission. The C-130, from the 61st Airlift Squadron, Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., was transporting U.S. military personnel to locations throughout Kuwait when the aircrew declared an in flight emergency and diverted to Kuwait City International Airport.
In 1999 Kuwait International Airport let a landmark contract to develop facilities at a new arrivals terminal.
Operations resumed at Kuwait International Airport after a fire that forced its closure. A fire broke out on 17 August in a departure area. All air traffic was halted and there was damage to several departure gates, the reports say. Operations resumed early on 18 August.
