User manual

- FSDG-Marsa Alam -
4
MARSA ALAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
When opening in 2001 Marsa Alam International was the first private airport in Egypt.
It is located approximately 70km north of Marsa Alam and 10km west of Port Ghalib and its holiday
resorts. Due to its remote location on a mountainous plateau and strict security measures there is no
public transport and all arriving and departing passengers have to make arrangements with their
hotels before arriving at the airport. There is also a car rental at the airport.
The international airport in Marsa Alam was built to serve the holiday resorts and dive centers with
their excellent dive spots in southern Egypt. Before the airport was built it was necessary to travel up
to 270km from Hurghada by bus to reach the resorts .
As a result of the now direct access to the southern holiday resorts the number of tourists - mainly
from Europe - heavily increased over the following years (2002: 145,00 passengers; 2006: 480,00
passengers) with peak periods on the weekends. This made an expansion of the airport necessary.
In 2006 the airport was eventually expanded. The terminal size was doubled from 6,000 square
meters to 12,000 square meters enabling the handling of up to 2,000 passengers per hour compared
to 600-1,000 before. Additionally the runway length was extended to the current 3,240m and 5 new
parking positions were created also doubling the airports capacity from 5 to 10 aircrafts per hour.
The expansion was completed in 2007. Therefor Marsa Alam International Airport is well prepared
for rising demand in future.