Nador International Airport

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Nador International Airport (Berber languages: Anafag en Ennaḍor Aɛarwi; Arabic: مطار الناظور العروي), (IATA: NDR, ICAO: GMMW), is an international airport serving Nador, a city in the Oriental region in Morocco. It is also known as Arwi Airport.

Location

The original location at Taouima moved to El Aroui, some 14 miles (24 km) south-southwest of Nador city. The airport lies nearly directly along the N2 national road. There is no public transport to the airport. Directly in front of the terminal there is a large (paid) parking-place which is mainly used for people bringing or picking up passengers.

Also outside the terminal there are many Grand Taxis offering shared connections with most major destinations for people flying to Nador. The taxis are also often offered for private-hire: thus where there is only one (group of) passenger(s). Petit Taxis are available to come or go to the town of Al Aroui only.

Overview

An initial airport was created in 1931 in the village of Tawima (south of Nador town) and was the primary airport for Melilla, since 1947 a Spanish enclave to the north. Following the independence of the Morocco, Melilla began steps in creating an airport within Spanish control. In 1969 Melilla Airport opened to provide air travel between the Spanish enclave and mainland Spain.

Nador is a small international airport (Inaugurated in 1999) with links to Morocco’s main airports and some European destinations such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. In the summer season it becomes a very busy airport when many Moroccan nationals living in Western Europe and originating from the Rif region (Riffian people) travel through it. The Nador airport is owned and run by the state company ONDA. The main user is Royal Air Maroc but also low-cost carriers like Ryanair, Airarabia, Tuifly, Transavia fly to Nador.

Although most flights are operated using the smaller Boeing 737 or similar, in the summer months the demand for seats is so high that Royal Air Maroc operated weekly flights from Amsterdam Schiphol and Brussels using their Boeing 747; however, in 2012, these flights were replaced by “normal” Boeing 737 flights. The runway and stand are designed to handle jumbos but the facilities like passport control get overwhelmed when a full B-747 arrives

Following the high number of travelers and flights, an extension Terminal work began in 2016. The old airport was demolished to rebuild the new airport which was inaugurated on July 9, 2021,

In the year 2009, the airport handled over 307,000 passengers.

Facilities

Nador International Airport has a single terminal, divided into arrivals and departures, both on the ground floor. Check-in terminals are located at one side of the main terminal hall, while the other side is for baggage retrieval for arriving customers.

The airport has one runway, approximately 3,000 metres long and 45 metres wide. It can handle commercial aircraft up to a Boeing 747. Total aircraft parking space is 54,000 m², enough for two Boeing 747s or four Boeing 737s. The airport has an ILS Class 1 certification and offers the following radionavigational aids: VOR – DME – NDB. PAPI lighting available when landing on runway 28.