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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Sharm El Sheikh International Airport

international airport serving Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ326268 ↗
Source-derived summary

Sharm El Sheikh International Airport (Arabic: مطار شرم الشيخ الدولي Maṭār Sharm El Sheikh El Dawli) (IATA: SSH, ICAO: HESH) is an international airport located in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It is the third-busiest airport in Egypt after Cairo International Airport and Hurghada International Airport and one of the busiest airports in the Middle East. Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport has two main passenger terminals, with the larger terminal, handling most international flights, and the other terminal, which is primarily used for domestic flights.

Overview

The airport was opened on 14 May 1968 as an Israeli Air Force base. After the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979 and subsequent Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula, it was reopened as a civilian airport.

The largest regular aircraft using the airport was a Transaero Airlines-operated Boeing 747-400. These flights transiting from Moscow ended when Transaero ceased operations in October 2015. As of December 2022, Red Wings Airlines operates the current largest regular aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, transiting from Moscow Domodedovo Airport.

In 2008, the Egyptian Airports Holding Company (EAHC) announced plans to build a third new terminal at the airport. In July 2009 the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation (EHCAAN) signed a contract with Spanish construction designers Pointec for the third terminal.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Sharm El Sheikh International Airport” as international airport serving Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sharm, Sheikh and International.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1968, 1979, 2015, 2022—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Sharm, Sheikh and International providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Sharm El Sheikh International Airport”, the useful work is to connect “international airport serving Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q326268. Authority coordinates are 27.977, 34.395. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1968, 1979, 2015 and 2022.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Sharm El Sheikh International Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Sharm El Sheikh International Airport primary sources, Sharm El Sheikh International Airport archive and Sharm research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sharm El Sheikh International Airport”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Sharm El Sheikh International Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.