Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport grew out of Payne Field, an air base built during the Second World War for the US Army Air Forces about 15 kilometers northeast of central Cairo. After the Americans departed in 1945, Egyptian civil aviation took over the field, and Cairo International was formally established alongside the old Heliopolis airport, which it soon replaced. Terminal 1 opened in 1963, serving the growing network of EgyptAir, the flag carrier founded in 1932 as one of the world's earliest airlines.

Terminal 2 followed in 1986 to handle mounting international traffic. The airport's largest single leap came in 2009 with the opening of Terminal 3, a project that roughly doubled capacity and gave EgyptAir, a Star Alliance member since 2008, a modern hub connected to Terminal 2 by an automated people mover.

A seasonal and low-cost Terminal 4 area, new control tower. Third runway have progressively strengthened the airport, which vies with Johannesburg as Africa's busiest and serves as the continent's principal bridge to the Middle East. Egypt is also building the giant Sphinx International Airport near Giza to relieve pressure and serve tourism to the pyramids.

Cairo International operates three runways, including a long southern runway suited to fully loaded long-haul departures in hot desert air, arranged around terminals strung along the airport's western side. Terminal 3 is EgyptAir's hub, timing banks of connections between Africa, Europe, and the Gulf, while Terminal 2 hosts most foreign carriers.

Traffic is heavily oriented toward Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, swollen by pilgrimage seasons for Hajj and Umrah, plus dense tourism flows to Red Sea resorts. Cairo also anchors EgyptAir Cargo and maintenance operations. The airport runs around the clock, with many Gulf and African departures leaving in the pre-dawn hours.