Uilo Airport

Uilo Airport (IATA: UIX, ICAO: AUIX), officially known as Uilo Koutaniemi Airport, is located in the Koutaniemi business park in Uilo, located 7 miles away from downtown Uilo.

Uilo Airport is the second-largest airport in Arola, as well as the oldest Arolan airport still in operation. Uilo Airport was originally RAF Uilo and built in the early 1930s, and converted into an airport in 1959 following Arola’s independence.

History
The British opened RAF Uilo in 1931, after severe congestion in RAF Korvola in Kelvia caused a lack of space for military aircraft in colonial Arola.

After World War II ended, RAF Uilo began to deteriorate as British military planes were moved to RAF Korvola before they could leave Arola. Following Arola’s independence in 1958, the original RAF station was demolished and replaced with a temporary wooden passenger terminal. The landing strip was still retained however, and was used for Arolan Airways’ (now Air Arola) first flight on 24th December 1958.

Uilo Airport officially reopened as a civilian airport in October 1959, and soon after became congested. It soon became clear that the dilapidated wooden passenger terminal could not meet the growing demand of Uilo Airport, especially with the jet age in the 1960s. To rectify this problem, the Arolan government built two new terminals: a 5-gate small terminal for Arolan Airways in 1962 and a 3-gate terminal for Union Shuttle flights in 1964.

After Kelvia Kasala International Airport opened, expansions of the airport soon followed, with an extension of the Arolan Airways terminal in 1974 and 1988, as well as one new gate at the Union Shuttle terminal.

On 12th December 2001, a new Air Arola Shuttle terminal opened with 8 gates, located next to the old Arolan Airways terminal. The original Union Shuttle terminal which had been in use by Air Arola Shuttle was transferred to mainline Air Arola. The Union Shuttle terminal was demolished in 2016, replaced by a temporary marble terminal and eventually a new Air Arola terminal opened on 6th February 2021.