Nador International Airport

Nador International Airport (Berber languages: Anafag en Ennaḍor Aɛarwi; Arabic: مطار الناظور العروي), (IATA: NDR, ICAO: GMMW), is an international airport serving Nador,^[2] a city in the Oriental region in Morocco. It is also known as Arwi Airport.

Nador International Airport مطار الناظور العروي (Arabic) Anafag n Ennaḍor Aɛarwi (Berber languages) Aéroport International de Nador (French)
IATA: NDR ICAO: GMMW
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	ONDA
Serves	Nador, Morocco
Elevation AMSL	574 ft / 175 m
Coordinates	34°59′20″N 003°01′42″W
Website	airportnador.com
Map
NDR Location of the Airport in Morocco
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 08/26 3,000 9,843 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers 772,371[1] Passenger change 18-19 +8.68%
Source: DAFIF[2][3]

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 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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

In 2009, the airport handled over 307,000 passengers.^[4]

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.^[5] Total aircraft parking space is 54,000 m², enough for two Boeing 747s or four Boeing 737s.^[6] The airport has an ILS Class 1 certification and offers the following radionavigational aids: VOR – DME – NDB. PAPI lighting is available when landing on Runway 28.^[6]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Nador Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Air Arabia	Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Cologne/Bonn, Hahn,[7] Montpellier, Palma de Mallorca, Strasbourg, Tangier Seasonal: Madrid
Air Horizont	Seasonal charter: Porto[8] (begins 03 June 2024)
Azores Airlines	Seasonal charter: Lisbon[8]
Brussels Airlines	Seasonal: Brussels
Corendon Airlines	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf Seasonal charter: Rotterdam/The Hague
Eurowings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg[9]
Iberia	Seasonal: Alicante, Madrid,[10] Málaga, Palma de Mallorca
Royal Air Maroc	Amsterdama, Brusselsb, Casablanca, Tangier Seasonal: Barcelona,[11] Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Madrid,[11] Rotterdam/The Hague
Ryanair	Barcelona, Beauvais, Charleroi, Hahn, Madrid, Marseille, Weeze Seasonal: Málaga,[12] Toulouse[13][14]
Smartwings	Seasonal charter: Prague[15]
Transavia	Paris–Orly, Rotterdam/The Hague
TUI fly Belgium	Brussels, Antwerp, Eindhoven Seasonal: Rotterdam/The Hague

^a This flight operates between Tangier and Amsterdam via Nador. However, this carrier does not sell tickets solely between Nador and Tangier.
^b This flight operates between Tangier and Brussels via Nador. However, this carrier does not sell tickets solely between Nador and Tangier.

Ground transport

The airport is located at Al Arouit and approximately 25 km. from Nador city by road. Other than taxis, no public transport is available. On arrival, meeting incoming flights many grand taxis and petit taxis wait outside the terminal and offer transfers to most regional cities.^[16] A paid car-park area is directly outside the terminal, mainly used to bring passengers or pick up arriving passengers. The roads between the airport and Nador city are in good condition and signposted in Arabic and French. The airport lies directly along the main national route N2 (from Tangier to Oujda). From the airport the route to the city uses this N2 in an easterly direction to the north outdoor route N15 to the city.

Since June 23, 2023, a new bus line serves the International airport of Al Aroui to the city of Nador every hour from 08:00 am to 10:00 pm

AIRBUS Line Number: 23 (near the Terminal arrivals terminal)

Traffic statistics

Annual passenger traffic at NDR airport. See Wikidata query.

Like other Moroccan airports, the traffic is very seasonal. All through the year, Royal Air Maroc (in codeshare with Atlas Blue) flies several times per week to Brussels and Amsterdam, but in the summer season more flights are scheduled. In the peak season, RAM even uses their Boeing 747 jumbojet every week on the route to/from Amsterdam and Brussels instead of the smaller Boeing 737 as they do the rest of the year.

Traffic statistic

2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
83.109 +8.39%	82.010 -1.32%	81.604 -0.50%	89.287 +9.41%	94.380 +5.70%	110.589 +17.17%	171.239 +54.84%	215.045 +25.58%	307.483 +42.99%	442.508 +43.30%	572.388 +29.45%	602.426 +5.25%	611.888 +1.57%	604.013 -1.29%	602.764 -0.21%	640.122 +6.20%	705.276 +10.18 %	710.559 +0.51%	772.371 +8.68%	276.157 -64.28%	579.417 +109.78%	836.742 +108.18%	1.025.652 +22%

Nearly a third of the annual traffic is handled by the airport during the summer months. Because Nador and surroundings aren't (yet) a tourist destination such as Agadir or Marrakesh, nearly all passengers are Moroccan nationals (incl. 2nd and 3rd generation) visiting relatives.^[17]

Recent statistics

Item	2010[18]	Change %	2009[19]	Change %	2008[20]	change %	2007[21]	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
Passengers[22]	442,508	+43.30%	308,789	+ 44.94%	213,045	+ 25.50%	171,293	110,589	94,380	89,287	81,604	82,010
Movements[23]	n/a[24]	n/a	4020	+102.72%	1983	+ 7.89%	1838	1614	1634	1368	1001	1009
Cargo (Metric tons)[25]	n/a[24]	n/a	3.98	- 28.80%	5.59	- 63.58%	15.35	92.33	22.04	74.36	17.27	20.30

References

1. "Aéroports du Maroc : Trafic Aérien de l'année 2019".
2. Airport information for GMMW^[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
3. Airport information for NDR at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2010-02-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. In the summer months Royal Air Maroc flies Boeing 747 services from Amsterdam and Brussels to Nador.
6. ONDA website Présentation Nador, (French), Visited 17 March 2012
7. "Air Arabia Maroc starts Nador-Frankfurt (Hahn)". 6 February 2023.
8. presstur.com
9. "Eurowings NS23 Network Update – 12FEB23".
10. "Iberia Adds Seasonal Madrid – Nador Service in 3Q23". Aeroroutes. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
11. "Een onvergetelijke vakantie naar Marokko? » Vakantie Marokko". 23 December 2018.
12. "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
13. "RYANAIR NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 05DEC22".
14. "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
15. fischer.cz
16. ONDA website on access for Nador Airport
17. Nador Information on Marokko-Info.nl
18. Passenger statistics for December 2010 Archived 2012-05-30 at the Wayback Machine with year-totals 2009 and 2010, visited 25 April 2011
19. Airport Presentation page on ONDA website on Nador Airport, visited 31 July 2010
20. source details 2008:Official ONDA report 2007-2008
21. 2007 statistics Source: ONDA PDF-Document
22. Statistics until 2006 from Overview passengers stats MA Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document
23. Statistics until 2006 from Statistics Movements Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document
24. for 2010 only passenger figures available
25. Statistics until 2006 from freight stats Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, PDF document

External links

Media related to Nador - El Aroui Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Current weather for GMMW at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for NDR at Aviation Safety Network

34°59′20″N 03°01′42″W