# Sharjah International Airport

Sharjah International Airport (Arabic: مطار الشارقة, romanized: Maṭār aš-Šāriqa) (IATA: SHJ, ICAO: OMSJ) is an international airport located 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) east-southeast of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It is spread over an area of 15,200,000 m$^2$ (3,800 acres). Its is the 3rd busiest airports in the country as well as the 10th busiest airport in the Middle East. It has one runway, and is the only airport in Sharjah capable of international flights as of 2022. By 2027, it is expected to increase its capacity to 25 million passengers annually.

## Overview

Sharjah International Airport is the third largest Middle East air freight hub in cargo tonnage, according to official 2015 statistics from Airports Council International. Ground services company, Sharjah Aviation Services, handled 586,195 tonnes in 2015 – a 16.1% increase year on year. It has one passenger terminal with an area of 125,000 m$^2$ (1,350,000 sq ft).
Sharjah International Airport is home base of the low-cost carrier Air Arabia. The headquarters of Air Arabia is in the Sharjah Freight Center, on the property of the airport in Sharjah, UAE. The center is an old cargo terminal.
It replaced RAF Sharjah, which was closer to the city and was opened in 1932. It was the first airport in UAE and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, for use by Imperial Airways, and was subsequently used by the RAF until 14 December 1971. The reason for the move was development pressure from the city of Sharjah. The old terminal and tower building is now Al Mahatta Museum. The old airport's runway is now part of King Abdul Aziz Street in the city centre.
The airport was used by the United States Air Force 926th Tactical Fighter Group during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Approximately 450 members of the unit were stationed at the airport, which flew A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft during the conflict in late 1990 and early 1991.

## Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 116 feet (35 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 12/30 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,060 m × 60 m (13,320 ft × 197 ft).
Founded in 1985, Sharjah Airport Travel Agency is owned by the Sharjah Airport Authority, Government of Sharjah and has 14 branches in the UAE, including one on the first floor of the main terminal at Sharjah Airport.
There are two prayer rooms available, one in the transit area of the Arrivals Terminal and the other on the ground floor of the Departures Terminal. There are mosques in both the East and West Cargo Terminals 3 and 4.

## Airlines and destinations
### Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Sharjah:
| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aeroflot | Seasonal: Moscow–Sheremetyevo |
| Air Arabia | Abha, Addis Ababa, Ahmedabad, Alexandria, Al Jawf, Almaty, Amman–Queen Alia, Athens, Baghdad, Bahrain, Baku, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Beirut, Bengaluru, Bishkek, Bosaso, Cairo, Chennai, Chittagong, Coimbatore, Colombo–Bandaranaike, Dammam, Delhi, Dhaka, Doha, Entebbe, Erbil, Faisalabad, Gassim, Giza, Goa–Mopa, Ha'il, Hyderabad, Istanbul, Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen, Jaipur, Jeddah, Jizan, Kabul, Karachi, Kathmandu, Kazan, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuwait City, Lar, Malé, Mashhad, Medina, Moscow–Domodedovo, Multan, Mumbai, Muscat, Nagpur, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Najaf, Osh, Peshawar, Quetta, Riyadh, Salalah, Samara, Shiraz, Sialkot, Sochi (begins 27 June 2025), Sohag, Sohar, Tabuk, Ta'if, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Tehran–Imam Khomeini, Thiruvananthapuram, Trabzon, Ufa, Vienna, Warsaw–Chopin, Yanbu, Yekaterinburg, Yerevan Seasonal: Kraków, Namangan, Phuket, Sarajevo |
| Airblue | Islamabad, Lahore, Multan |
| Air Cairo | Seasonal: Assiut |
| Air India Express | Amritsar, Delhi, Indore, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Varanasi, Vijayawada |
| Air Peace | Lagos |
| AJet | Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen |
| Biman Bangladesh Airlines | Chittagong, Dhaka, Sylhet |
| Cham Wings Airlines | Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia (all suspended) |
| Egyptair | Cairo |
| FitsAir | Seasonal charter: Malé, Yerevan |
| Fly Jinnah | Islamabad, Lahore |
| Flynas | Jeddah |
| IndiGo | Amritsar, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram |
| Iraqi Airways | Baghdad |
| Jordan Aviation | Amman–Queen Alia |
| Kam Air | Kabul |
| Pakistan International Airlines | Multan, Peshawar, Sialkot |
| Pegasus Airlines | Istanbul–Sabiha Gökçen |
| Qatar Airways | Doha |
| SereneAir | Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar |
| Syrian Air | Damascus, Latakia (both suspended) |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul |
| Ural Airlines | Seasonal: Moscow–Domodedovo, Yekaterinburg (both resume 7 April 2025) |
| US-Bangla Airlines | Dhaka |
| Uzbekistan Airways | Tashkent |

### Cargo

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Aerotranscargo | Dammam, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Munich, Riyadh |
| Astral Aviation | Delhi, Eldoret, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta |
| EgyptAir Cargo | Cairo |
| Ethiopian Cargo | Addis Ababa |
| Express Air Cargo | Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Tunis |
| Singapore Airlines Cargo | Amsterdam, Brussels, London–Heathrow, Singapore |
| UPS Airlines | Cologne, Hong Kong, Seoul–Incheon, Shenzhen |

## Statistics

Traffic at Sharjah International Airport :
| Year | Total passengers | Total cargo | Total aircraft movements |
| 1999 | 1,001,852 | 580,550 | 27,577 |
| 2000 | 948,207 | 475,122 | 25,997 |
| 2001 | 861,478 | 415,587 | 24,431 |
| 2002 | 1,028,624 | 497,010 | 24,803 |
| 2003 | 1,247,458 | 507,644 | 28,017 |
| 2004 | 1,661,941 | 500,927 | 32,334 |
| 2005 | 2,237,646 | 505,392 | 38,699 |
| 2006 | 3,064,396 | 569,511 | 44,182 |
| 2007 | 4,324,313 | 570,363 | 51,314 |
| 2008 | 5,280,445 | 586,677 | 60,813 |
| 2009 | 5,764,098 | 501,824 | 61,451 |
| 2011 | 6,600,000 | 417,116 | 63,737 |
| 2012 | 7,516,538 | 475,116 | 65,975 |
| 2013 | 8,505,268 | 493,402 | 66,247 |
| 2014 | 9,516,600 | 528,250 | 70,559 |
| 2015 | 11,993,887 | 586,195 | 98,786 |

## Accidents and incidents

* On 15 December 1997, a Tupolev Tu-154 from Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183 crashed on approach to SHJ. Some 13 km from Sharjah the plane ran into terrain and 85 of the 86 occupants died. One of the seven crew members survived the disaster.
* On 10 February 2004, Kish Air Flight 7170, operated by a Fokker 50 crashed on approach, killing 43 of its 46 occupants, which consisted of 3 crew and 40 passengers.
* On 7 November 2004, an Air Atlanta Boeing 747 freighter was damaged beyond repair due to an aborted take-off with insufficient runway remaining. None of the four crew was injured. The take-off was aborted after a report of smoke from the control tower and hearing a loud bang in the cockpit.
* On 21 October 2009, Azza Transport Flight 2241, operated by a Boeing 707–320, crashed on take-off. The flight was carrying cargo only and all six crew members were killed.