The Tehran international airport as viewed from an aircraft.
The Tehran Ahmadabad International Airport, also known with the acronym AIA, is a major international airport that is located in Ahmadabad, Tehran, Tehran Province, Iran and is the largest and most important airport of the country. The airport is located about 35 kilometers (21.75 miles) southwest of the city of Tehran, near the localities of Robat-Karim and Eslamshahr.
With Iran rapidly becoming the hub of airline routes across the Middle East, Tippetts-Abbott-McCarthy-Stratton of New York and Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian and associates of Tehran have joined together to develop a major airport facility for the nation comparable to the largest in the world. It is to be located 35 km south-west of Tehran on 12,000 hectares of land between two major freeways which, along with the future high-speed rapid transit link, will provide direct access from the capital. In the initial stage, one domestic and one international module totaling 36 gates will be constructed. By the year 2000, the series of five terminal modules and four runways in dual parallel configuration, with just over 100 loading/parking positions, was be capable of handling and annual traffic load of 12 million international passengers, 14,900,000 domestic passengers and 620,000 metric tonnes of cargo.
Terminal modules straddle a central spine road and transit system connecting the two freeways to Tehran. This spine also allows for inter-airport circulation and for under-terminal parking with direct vertical check-in and baggage claim. The airfield provides for the most advanced Air Traffic Control procedures. In addition to the terminals, hangars and cargo areas, a residential town is planned for airport employees.