--- iata: IKA name: Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport city: Tehran country: Iran lastUpdated: '2026-09-21' officialWebsite: 'https://www.ikac.ir/' sources: - 'https://www.ikac.ir/' - 'https://evisa.mfa.ir/' - 'https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran/entry-requirements' - 'https://www.cip.aero/fa/airportservices/cip/ikia/price' - >- https://www.cip.aero/fa/airportservices/firstclassloungeandbusinesslounge/ikia - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran_Imam_Khomeini_International_Airport' - 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam_Khomeini_Airport_station' - 'https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/domains/air-operations/czibs/czib-2026-04-r1' - >- https://en.mehrnews.com/news/243970/Tehran-s-Imam-Khomeini-airport-resumes-operations - >- https://www.tasnimnews.ir/en/news/2026/09/09/3692833/foreign-flights-unaffected-by-new-us-sanctions-on-iranian-airlines-official quickFacts: - >- Live campus: Terminal 1 (reopened 30 April 2005; Paul Andreu arc) plus Salaam Terminal (opened June 2019). No airside walk between them. Iranshahr Terminal 3 is not live. All Tehran international flights sit here; Mehrabad (THR) is domestic. - >- Calendar 2024 traffic: 7,672,152 passengers (Iran air-transport annual reports via Wikipedia). Operator leftover ~7.5 million / 49,000 flights is Iranian year 1402. Leftover ~9 million for 1403 was a forecast — do not paste it as a year. 2026 closed ~28 Feb–25 Apr. - >- IATA IKA / ICAO OIIE. Operator Imam Khomeini Airport City Company (IKAC). ~35 km southwest of central Tehran. Elevation 1,007 m / 3,304 ft. Two runways 11L/29R 4,198 × 45 m and 11R/29L 4,092 × 45 m. ILS from August 2009. Time zone Asia/Tehran. - >- Official spokesman: be at the terminals at least 3 hours before departure. Flight info 096330 or +98 21 5100118. Official site www.ikac.ir. Do not invent a live SSID this pass. - >- Tehran Metro Line 1 branch to Imam Khomeini Airport station is live (opened 7 August 2017; T1 entrance photographed 31 December 2025). Infrequent and daytime-biased — leftover timetables conflict. Night arrivals take a taxi. Uber is not in Iran; Snapp / Tapsi are. - >- No Priority Pass listing this pass. Paid CIP Terminal is a separate hall (9,900,000 toman + 10% VAT, Esfand 1404 tariff). T1 Fast Track & Business Lounge is 2,800,000 toman, departures only. bentoTips: - label: Timing title: Arrive 3 hours early — visa can eat the slack detail: >- Eligible e-visa / VOA travellers still wait at the arrivals visa windows (Exit / Baggage claim / Transfer signs). UK/US/Canada ordinary passports cannot use VOA. Night banks of departures are common — the metro will already be dead. summary: >- IKAC spokesman: be at the terminals at least 3 hours before departure. Call 096330 or +98 21 5100118 before you leave. category: timing - label: Terminals title: 'T1 for most airlines; Salaam is live, Iranshahr is not' detail: >- Wikipedia leftover 'as of March 2026 all flights suspended' is leftover-stale: Mehr News says IKA resumed 25 April 2026 (Istanbul / Muscat / Medina first). Tasnim 9 September 2026: CEO says foreign flights were operating. Confirm your airline's terminal on the ticket, not a 2024 blog. summary: >- Terminal 1 is the 2005 international hall. Salaam (2019) takes Hajj/Umrah and overflow. There is no airside walk. T3 Iranshahr is not open. category: terminal - label: Food title: 'Pistachio and saffron, not a food hall' detail: >- The photographed 'Iranian Traditional Souvenir / Persian Duty Free' island is the honest sit for a boxed sweet and a bottle. Do not invent leftover McDonald's / Starbucks / 24-hour hours. CIP's buffet is the only real meal if you paid for that hall. summary: >- Landside and airside shops sell Iranian sweets, caviar, saffron and leather. Cafés sit in the halls. Duty-free does not sell alcohol. category: food - label: Visa title: e-visa grant notice — UK/US/Canada cannot walk up detail: >- Official MFA visa-waiver list includes Turkey, China, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Kazakhstan. A 15-day tourism waiver covers 27 ordinary passports (Gulf states, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Serbia, Croatia, and others named on the portal). UK FCDO: British citizens need a sponsored tour or an in-country sponsor; no VOA. FCDO passport 6 months after arrival. summary: >- MFA portal evisa.mfa.ir: apply at least two days before a visa-on-arrival pickup. Passport needs 6 months beyond travel. Israeli ink can refuse entry. category: status lounges: - name: CIP Terminal zone: Landside/airside CIP building opposite the tower — not inside T1 hours: Sold as 24/7; confirm when you book access: - >- Paid CIP 9,900,000 toman per passenger + 10% VAT (TAV Avizheh Pars tariff, updated Esfand 1404) - Business class as sold by participating airlines - 'Home check-in 4,620,000 toman as sold' bestFor: - Skipping T1 queues - Arrivals visa help as sold summary: >- A separate three-floor CIP hall, not a Priority Pass room. Operator tariff 9,900,000 toman + 10% VAT for arrivals or departures. CIP.aero will not take Lufthansa, Austrian, Zagros, or Mahan to Guangzhou / Najaf / Baghdad on departure — those T1 flights use Fast Track instead. Book with the ticket and passport on WhatsApp +98 910 055 5580. verdict: worth-it terminal: Separate CIP hall beside Terminal 1 amenities: - Buffet and tea - Wi-Fi - Shops - Prayer room - Private immigration / security - Apron transfer to the aircraft - Suites / showers as sold - name: Fast Track & Business Lounge zone: >- T1 departures — reception at the second door from the right, then a dedicated police/passport lane into the lounge hours: Flight-led; T1 departures only access: - >- Paid Fast Track & Business Lounge 2,800,000 toman per passenger (T1 departures only; not CIP) bestFor: - T1 departures that CIP will not take - A cheaper skip of the T1 queues summary: >- Inside Terminal 1, departures only, and explicitly not the CIP hall. 2,800,000 toman. Check-in and bags stay at the airline desk. No Priority Pass / LoungeKey / DragonPass listing this pass. Snacks, not a Gulf buffet. verdict: depends terminal: Terminal 1 amenities: - Fast-track security and immigration - Lounge seating - Soft drinks as sold - Wi-Fi waterOptions: - kind: purchase name: Persian Duty Free / Iranian Traditional Souvenir bottle zone: airside price: Unpublished at the till summary: >- Buy here after screening so a landside bottle does not die at the X-ray. Sweets and boxed nuts sit on the same island. Leftover till prices are leftover-unpublished. location: >- Souvenir / duty-free island in the T1 hall under the 'Iranian Traditional Souvenir' and Aysuda signs terminal: Terminal 1 isBestValue: true - kind: purchase name: Transit-hall café bottle zone: airside price: Unpublished at the till summary: >- Sit if you want the bottle with tea. Do not invent leftover Starbucks / Costa. Alcohol is not sold in duty-free. location: >- Cafés in the T1 transit / boarding hall after passport, away from the souvenir island terminal: Terminal 1 isBestQuality: true - kind: refill name: Gate 11 toilet-adjacent taps (2019 report) zone: airside summary: >- Water at Airports post, 26 November 2019 only. Not re-confirmed on IKAC pages this pass — treat as leftover-unverified and still empty the bottle at screening. location: >- Outside the toilets near Gate 11 — leftover November 2019 traveler report of cold and room-temp taps with plastic cups terminal: Terminal 1 airportistScore: 6.4 slug: ika region: Middle East --- > Markdown for [/airports/ika](/airports/ika). Append `.md` to any page URL (or send `Accept: text/markdown`) for an agent-readable copy. - [HTML page](/airports/ika) - [Lounge directory](/airports/ika/lounges.md) - [Sitemap](/sitemap.md) # Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) Tehran, Iran · Middle East Tehran's international airport is a 2005 arc plus a 2019 Salaam hall with a live but infrequent metro: paid CIP is the only lounge that changes the day, Uber does not exist, and European metal is still a maybe after the 2026 closure. ## Airportist Score **6.4 / 10** Weighted sum of the six published categories (no holistic fudge). - Ease of use (25%): 6.6 — Wayfinding, security wait, and layout. - Comfort & amenities (20%): 6.4 — Seating, Wi-Fi, cleanliness, and quiet. - Food & retail (15%): 6.2 — Food and retail quality and variety. - Ground access (15%): 7.2 — Transit, taxi, and parking to the city. - Reliability (15%): 5.4 — Delays, cancellations, and weather resilience. - Lounges (10%): 6.6 — Worth-it density and access quality. ## At a glance - Passengers: 7,672,152 (2024) - Terminals: 2 live: Terminal 1 (2005) + Salaam (2019). Iranshahr T3 not live. No airside walk. - Typical security: 25 min - On-time: 0% - Disruption: moderate ## Best for - International arrivals who printed the MFA grant notice - Daytime metro to Tajrish with light bags - Travellers willing to pay CIP to skip Terminal 1 ## Watch out for - UK/US/Canada cannot visa-on-arrival; Israeli ink can refuse entry - No Priority Pass; leftover 'all flights suspended' Wikipedia copy is leftover-stale after 25 April 2026 - EASA still advised EU operators out of FIR Tehran through 30 September 2026 ## More intel - [Lounge directory](/airports/ika/lounges.md) (free) - [Getting there](/airports/ika/getting-there.md) (free) - [Amenities](/airports/ika/amenities.md) (free) - [Traveler tips](/airports/ika/tips.md) (free) - [Water](/airports/ika/water.md) (free) - [Full guide](/airports/ika/guide.md) (free) - [Disruptions](/airports/ika/disruptions.md) (free) - [Reviews](/airports/ika/reviews.md) (free)