Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport

Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport, also called Herat International Airport (IATA: HEA, ICAO: OAHR), is a big airport in western Afghanistan. It sits about 10 kilometers southeast of the city of Herat, close to the Kandahar–Herat Highway in the Guzara District of the Herat Province. The airport is named after Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, a famous wise person from the area.

This airport is very important because it is the fourth largest commercial airport in Afghanistan. The three bigger airports are Kabul International Airport in Kabul, Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport in Kandahar, and Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport in Mazar-i-Sharif. This airport helps connect people and brings many visitors to the Herat area.

History

The Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport was first built in the 1960s by engineers from the United States. During the 1980s, it was used by Soviet forces. In 1995, the Taliban took control of the airport. After the Taliban were removed from the area in 2001, U.S. Army Special Forces arrived to help set up teams that could bring aid to the region.

From 2002 to 2005, international forces led by the United States operated at the airport. In 2005, responsibility moved to the International Security Assistance Force. Italy helped improve the airport, adding a new terminal and extending the runway. In January 2021, the airport was renamed after Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. In August 2021, the Taliban took control of the airport again.

Airlines and destinations

This section lists the airlines that fly from Khwaja Abdullah Ansari International Airport and the places they go to. The full list of flights and destinations can be found in the table below.