AviatDataKabul International Airport KBL / OAKB
Kabul, Kabul Province · Afghanistan · State-owned: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) of the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate government. Day-to-day operations run under a series of contracts with UAE-based GAAC Holding: ground handling, premium services and aviation security (from Nov 2020, covering Kabul/Kandahar/Herat, plus security at Mazar-e-Sharif); an exclusive air-navigation-services contract for all Afghan airspace - ATC, communications, navigation, surveillance and meteorology (signed May 2022); and a ten-year contract covering all aspects of airport management and operations at Afghanistan's three main airports (signed 8 Sep 2022, the third and final of the three GAAC deals, per Reuters and Khaama Press reporting). Airport/aerodrome physical security is provided separately by the Taliban's Badri 313 special-forces unit (Haqqani-network-linked, under the Interior Ministry), assigned to Kabul airport in Aug 2021. Note: Badri 313 is NOT also known as 'Al-Fatah' - that name belongs to the unrelated 209 Al-Fatah Corps of the regular Islamic Emirate army;
1.6Mpax · 2025
H24International · customs & immigrationJet A-1
ICAO / IATAOAKB / KBL
OperatorState-owned: Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) of the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate government. Day-to-day operations run under a series of contracts with UAE-based GAAC Holding: ground handling, premium services and aviation security (from Nov 2020, covering Kabul/Kandahar/Herat, plus security at Mazar-e-Sharif); an exclusive air-navigation-services contract for all Afghan airspace - ATC, communications, navigation, surveillance and meteorology (signed May 2022); and a ten-year contract covering all aspects of airport management and operations at Afghanistan's three main airports (signed 8 Sep 2022, the third and final of the three GAAC deals, per Reuters and Khaama Press reporting). Airport/aerodrome physical security is provided separately by the Taliban's Badri 313 special-forces unit (Haqqani-network-linked, under the Interior Ministry), assigned to Kabul airport in Aug 2021. Note: Badri 313 is NOT also known as 'Al-Fatah' - that name belongs to the unrelated 209 Al-Fatah Corps of the regular Islamic Emirate army;
Coordinates34.5659°N, 69.2123°E
Elevation5,877 ft · 1,791 m
Time zoneAFT (UTC+4:30, no DST)
Passengers / yr1,570,896 (2025)
CustomsYes
Border controlYes
SchengenNo
FuelJet A-1
Bonded—
AIP referenceOAKB - Afghanistan AIP (Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation / Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority; no current eAIP publicly accessible)
Operating hoursConfirmed (2 Sep 2026) directly on kia.gov.af's own Contact page: Terminal Operations 24/7, Information Desk 05:00-23:00, Customer Service 08:00-20:00, Administrative Office 08:00-16:00 (local AFT) - consistent with the live departure board showing scheduled flights from about 07:20 to 23:59 local. Historical note: an 8 Sep 2021 post-takeover NOTAM had specified temporary hours of 0330-1330Z (08:00-18:00 local) during the initial reopening period; hours have since expanded to the current published 24/7 schedule.
TerminalsSeparate international terminal (opened 2008, two jetbridges) and an older Soviet-built domestic terminal (1960s; also referenced in current route data as Terminal I / Terminal D); a 2021 NOTAM confirmed the tower and ILS were both restored to operative status within days of the Taliban takeover
Runways (1)
- 11/29 · 3,500 m / 11,483 ft · 50 m wide · Asphalt · ILS ILS (category unconfirmed); tower and ILS both confirmed restored to operative status within days of the Aug 2021 takeover
Airport contact
Afghanistan's principal international gateway, renamed back to Kabul International Airport after the Taliban's Aug 2021 takeover (it was Hamid Karzai International Airport 2014-2021, and both names still circulate). Single runway 11/29, about 3,500 m x 50 m asphalt per OurAirports (Wikipedia's infobox cites a slightly different 3,511 m - treat the exact figure as approximate pending a primary AIP chart), no parallel or crosswind runway. GAAC Holding (UAE) holds three sequential contracts with the Taliban government dated Nov 2020, May 2022 and 8 Sep 2022 (the last a ten-year, all-encompassing airport-management deal), per Reuters and Khaama Press reporting; Badri 313 (Taliban special forces) separately handles physical security - not 'Al-Fatah', which is an unrelated regular-army corps and has been corrected out of this record. Scheduled international service has gradually normalized post-takeover - flydubai resumed Nov 2023 and Turkish Airlines resumed May 2024. Verified via KBL's own live departure board (2 Sep 2026) and a current (31 Aug-6 Sep 2026) route aggregator: active scheduled carriers are Ariana Afghan Airlines, Kam Air, flydubai, Turkish Airlines, Mahan Air and Etihad Airways, with Iran Airtour also shown on the weekly schedule (Tehran/Mashhad). Afghanistan is a zero-coverage (Rule B) country for this dataset: no KBL-specific passenger or movement count is publicly published, so the 1,570,896 passengers and 12,832 flights carried here is the Ministry of Transport's NATIONWIDE total across Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and regional airports - confirmed as a genuine, currently-cited government statistic via the Taliban administration's own Aug 2026 'Economic and Self-Reliance Week' briefing (spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, reported by GMIC and RTA.af), used here as the best available proxy rather than a KBL-only figure; the exact reporting period may track the Islamic year 1447 AH rather than the Gregorian calendar year 2025 precisely, so treat any airport-level comparison against this number with that caveat. The airport's self-published contact details (kia.gov.af, phone +93 20 2929601, info@kbl.gov.af) were independently confirmed live on kia.gov.
Services
Available
On request / PPR
Seasonal / ageing
Unconfirmed / not listed
Ground handling
Available
GAAC Holding
UAE-based GAAC Holding SPV Ltd has operated ground handling at Kabul International Airport since November 2020, fielding roughly 1,000 staff across Afghanistan's international airports (Kabul, Kandahar, Herat); independently corroborated by Wikipedia, which states the airport "is currently operated by UAE-based GAAC Holding and Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation." A company representative described Kabul ground services as "100% ready" as of September 2021.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Aircraft fuel
Available · 3 providers
Dawi Oil Ltd
Into-plane Jet A-1 fuelling at Kabul International Airport; company's own site confirms it operates the "Kabul International Airport Fuel Station," matching the given contact details. Dawi Oil was assigned to reconstruct and has operated the airport's fuel station since August 2006, JIG-compliant and ISO-certified, serving 40+ airline clients across its Afghan network (30,000 MT storage capacity nationally).
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Arrow Petroleum Co., Ltd
Jet A-1 fuel supplier based at Hamid Karzai International Airport (Kabul), listed by contact name/email in the WFP/Logistics Cluster Afghanistan fuel-providers contact list; also cited alongside Dawi Oil as a KBL fuel source in the airport's Logistics Capacity Assessment.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Solaimankhil Gas and Oil Commercial Company
Afghan fuel importer/distributor (est. 2007, HQ Herat) lists aviation fuel among its products and is described in third-party listings as operating dedicated aviation fuel tanks/hydrant systems at Kabul International and other Afghan airports; direct site check confirms contact details but the company's own site does not itself name Kabul, so KBL-specific service remains unconfirmed.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
De-icing
Not listed
Part-145 line maintenance
Unconfirmed
Ariana Afghan Airlines
In-house Maintenance and Engineering Directorate based at Kabul (the carrier's home hub) handles fleet technical support and issues its own RFQs for engine/component work (e.g. CFM56-3C1 engine repair, engine shipments Kabul-Amman); on-aircraft transit/line-check capability at KBL is implied by hub status but not independently documented in detail, and heavy engine work is sent abroad rather than performed on base.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Part-145 base maintenance
Not listed
Component shops & overhaul
Not listed
Flight catering
Not listed
Aircraft cleaning
Not listed
Ground support equipment
Available
GAAC Holding
Airport-side ground support equipment fleet documented at KBL includes 5-15T forklifts, 14 tractors, 14T and 30T motorised deck loaders, 7T low-deck loaders, a K-loader, and towbars for aircraft types up to B747/B777/IL-76/C-17, operated under the GAAC ground-handling concession.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Cargo handling
Available
GAAC Holding
Cargo terminal handling is available at KBL (a documented handling charge of ~US$96/MT applies for bulk/pallet offload up to B777-size aircraft); no independent commercial cargo storage exists on-airport, so customs-managed space is used for clearance, operated under the GAAC ground-handling concession.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Aviation security
Available
GAAC Holding
GAAC Holding also delivers aviation security services at Kabul International Airport as part of its airport ground-handling/security concession alongside passenger and ramp handling.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Passenger & crew transport
Not listed
Flight support
Available · 2 providers
Afghanistan Meteorological Department (AMD)
AMD's aviation section (amd.gov.af/aviation) publishes TAF and METAR meteorological briefing reports for Kabul International Airport for operator flight-planning use, confirmed by direct site check; also covers Kandahar, Herat, Khost and Mazar-i-Sharif.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority – Aeronautical Information Service
ACAA's Aeronautical Information Service (published via afgais.com) publishes NOTAMs and AIP/AIRAC flight-planning documentation for Kabul International Airport (OAKB) specifically, confirmed by direct site check, alongside 17+ other Afghan locations; coordinates with AMD for weather.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source
Hotel & travel
Unconfirmed
Safi Landmark Hotel
Four-star hotel in central Kabul, roughly 15 minutes by road from KBL; owned by the Safi family (parent group of the former Safi Airways) and historically used to house airline crew — a crew-forum (PPRuNe) reference describes it as complimentary for the airline given the ownership link; no formal published crew-contract terms found.
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Verified 2 weeks ago · unconfirmed source