Kelvia Kasala International Airport

Kelvia Kasala International Airport (IATA: KKI, ICAO: EAKK) is the main international airport serving the city of Kelvia in Arola, located in the industrial suburb of Kasala. The airport opened on 26th July 1973 to relieve congestion on the existing Kelvia Korvola Airport, but eventually replaced commercial operations at Korvola in the 1980s.

The airport is the largest and busiest airport in the whole of Arola, carrying 27.3 million passengers per day in 2019. The airport is located about 11 miles away from the city center of Kelvia and serves as a hub for Air Arola and its subsidiaries.

History
After Arola gained independence, air traffic started to greatly increase due to the which surfaced in the late 1950s. The mayor of Kelvia tried to resolve the problem by expanding the airport with the opening of a new terminal in the 1960s, however it became apparent that Kelvia Airport had no room for expansion.

The Arolan government stepped in and decided to allow Kelvia to build on a parcel of land located 11 miles away from the city center for industrial development and the new airport. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Kelvia Kasala International Airport was held on June 10, 1968, attended by the mayor of Kelvia and several Arolan officials.

The airport finally opened on July 26, 1973 at a cost of 21.3 million Arolan dollars, but the increasing amount of passengers handled at the airport was short lived, as the began to hit worldwide. During the crisis, the Arolan government ordered Korvola airport to be temporarily closed and all flights were moved to Kasala.

After the crisis eased, both airports were reopened, but only Kasala airport saw a surge of passengers compared to Korvola. This led the Arolan government to move all flights at Korvola to Kasala before Korvola closed on 31st December 1982.

In December 1985, the Kelvia World Airport Authority (present-day KKI Arolan Airports) took over the operations of Kasala airport from the Arolan government.

The airport almost reached maximum capacity in the late 1980s to mid 2000s and was criticised of being crowded in peak hours. The situation was resolved after construction of a 24-gate Terminal 3 began in 1999 and opened in June 2008.

Terminal 1
Terminal 1 consists of 16 gates and mainly serves as a domestic terminal for Air Arola Shuttle flights to Uilo and Schengen countries. The facility originally opened as the main wing of KKI’s terminal in July 1973, but the facility remained in operation as a domestic terminal even after the closure of Terminal 2 (originally the “west wing”) in the late 2000s. It was expanded in 2009 when part of the former Terminal 2 became Terminal 1.

Terminal 3
The 50,000 hectare Terminal 3 opened on June 9, 2008, serving as the current international and non-Schengen terminal since Terminal 2 closed down. The terminal is two times bigger than the latter and is the biggest air facility in Arola, with a total of 24 gates spanning across Terminals 3A, 3B and 3C. Most Air Arola and international flights depart and arrive at this terminal.

Future
A new Terminal 4, to be built in the eastern part of the airport, is scheduled to be completed by 2029. The new terminal will consist of two large piers connected to a main terminal for a total of 30 gates, nearly doubling the capacity of the airport to 60 million passengers annually. Construction of Terminal 4 started in June 2023.

In February 2023, KKI Arolan Airports announced plans to build a new satellite terminal, Terminal 1 Satellite (T1S), with the existing Terminal 1 projected to reach capacity by 2030 since air traffic surged after the. The expansions to Terminal 1, including the satellite terminal, will add up to 20 gates for intra-Schengen flights and further increase capacity to 83 million passengers when fully completed. Works are slated to begin by the end of 2024.

Terminal 2
The former Terminal 2 opened as the west wing of KKI’s airport terminal in July 1973, initially used for international flights. At opening, the terminal had a total of 8 gates and was criticised for being cramped and crowded during rush hour. To rectify this issue, 4 more gates opened in October 1987, but cost overruns with expansion and the terminal reaching full capacity meant that a new terminal, Terminal 3, was planned in the early 1990s. Terminal 2 closed down on July 24, 2009, after all airlines moved to the new Terminal 3. The entire terminal, with the exception of the check-in counters, was demolished shortly after its closure.

Light rail
Kelvia light rail’s Line T1 terminates in front of the airport since KKI Airport stop opened on the line on 9th October 2010. The elevated station is located in the middle of the airport’s parking garage.

Bus
Regular bus services are provided by the Kelvia Urban Transit (KKL), which start and end at KKI’s bus terminal located on the eastern side of the landside area. In-town check-in buses from the Kelvia Central intermodal hub used to serve KKI in the early 2000s, but low ridership caused these services to be cancelled.

Car
KKI is connected by Arolan Freeway 15, which opened as a spur of Freeway 14 to the airport upon opening in July 1973. The freeway now provides a direct route to downtown Kelvia, along motorists to drive directly to the city center.

KKI consists of two parking garages built in the 1990s and 2010s, located on the north and west areas of the airport. The northern parking garage opened in 1973 along with the airport and was completely rebuilt in 2010 to accommodate the elevated light rail station serving the airport. The western parking garage opened in 1994, and was recently connected to the new Terminal 3.