Lahore Airport Guide: Punjab’s Gateway to the Gulf and Beyond
Lahore Airport, officially Allama Iqbal International, is Pakistan's third busiest gateway. Runways, terminals, Gulf routes, access and expansion plans.
By The Aviation Hub
6 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Lahore Airport, known officially as Allama Iqbal International Airport, serves Pakistan’s second largest city and the capital of Punjab province. It sits around 9 miles (15 km) southeast of the old walled city, hemmed in by the cantonment and the fast growing suburbs of DHA. Two parallel runways and a Mughal styled terminal handle more than 6 million passengers a year, most of them flying to the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the UK. It ranks behind only Karachi and Islamabad in Pakistan and is a hub for Pakistan International Airlines.
Lahore Airport at a Glance
The airport uses the IATA code LHE and the ICAO code OPLA. It lies at an elevation of 217 m (712 ft) on the flat Punjab plain, about 20 minutes by road from the Mall Road business district in light traffic. Two runways run roughly north to south, the primary 18L/36R and the shorter 18R/36L.
Three buildings make up the passenger estate: the main Allama Iqbal terminal, a separate Hajj terminal and a cargo terminal. Traffic reached about 6.05 million passengers in the financial year to June 2025, up around 11.6 per cent on the year before. Pakistan International Airlines operates a hub here, while SereneAir, which kept a base at Lahore, has had its flights suspended since October 2025. The state owned Pakistan Airports Authority runs the field. Flight information and parking rates appear on the airport’s official website.
How Lahore’s Airport Came to Be
Walton Airport, closer to the city, served Lahore at independence in 1947. It had short runways and no room to grow, and it could not handle the Boeing 720 that PIA acquired as its first jet, so the government looked elsewhere. The answer was a former three runway military airfield to the east of the cantonment. Lahore International Airport opened there in 1962, and PIA began flights to Dubai and London via Karachi.
The airport was renamed for Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the philosopher and poet whose writing helped shape the idea of Pakistan. The current main terminal opened in 2003 with Mughal arches and domes that nod to the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque a few miles away. British Airways returned in 2020 after a 44 year absence, though the London route was later suspended. Lahore Airport has since grown steadily on the back of Gulf and Saudi demand.
Runways at Lahore Airport
Runway 18L/36R is the primary strip, a concrete surface 3,360 m (11,024 ft) long and 46 m wide. It takes everything from Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-300 wide bodies on Gulf and Saudi services to the occasional Boeing 747-400 freighter. The parallel runway 18R/36L is asphalt and measures 2,743 m (9,000 ft) by 46 m. It serves as a backup and handles lighter traffic when the main runway is closed for work.
The two runways sit close together, so Lahore Airport cannot run fully independent parallel operations. Northerly operations on 36R bring arrivals in low over the suburbs south of the field. Winter fog is the great enemy here. From December to February dense smog and radiation fog regularly cut visibility below limits for hours at a time, and diversions to Islamabad or Karachi are common. The second phase of the current expansion includes a rehabilitation of the main runway.
Terminals and Airlines
The Allama Iqbal terminal handles all scheduled passenger flights under one roof, with domestic and international halls on separate wings. PIA is the largest operator, flying Boeing 777s and Airbus A320s to Karachi, Jeddah, Dammam, Bahrain, Muscat, Baku, Manchester and London Heathrow. Local rivals Airblue, Fly Jinnah and AirSial compete on the domestic trunk routes and on the Gulf.
Foreign carriers dominate the international departure board. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, flydubai, Air Arabia, Saudia, flynas and Riyadh Air all serve the airport, several of them more than once a day. Turkish Airlines connects Istanbul, Thai Airways serves Bangkok and Batik Air Malaysia flies to Kuala Lumpur. The Hajj terminal opens during the pilgrimage season to process tens of thousands of pilgrims on chartered and scheduled wide body flights to Jeddah and Medina. Lounges are limited to a PIA business class lounge and a commercial CIP lounge.
Routes and Destinations
Karachi is the busiest route from Lahore Airport, with around 69 weekly departures spread across PIA, Airblue, AirSial and Fly Jinnah. Jeddah follows with roughly 50 weekly flights, driven by Umrah traffic and a large Pakistani workforce in Saudi Arabia. Dubai sees about 42 departures a week, with Riyadh and Sharjah next at around 19 and 18. Islamabad is barely a flight at all at around 170 miles (270 km), so the motorway takes most of that traffic.
Long haul is thin but real. PIA’s flights to Manchester, about 3,980 miles (6,400 km) away, and London Heathrow, which resumed in March 2026, are the longest scheduled sectors from the airport. They connect Punjab’s large British diaspora, and the Lahore to Manchester market is one of the strongest UK to Pakistan city pairs. Traffic peaks around Eid, the Hajj season and the winter wedding months when overseas Pakistanis return home. Cargo is dominated by textiles, mangoes in summer and perishables bound for the Gulf.
Getting to and from Lahore Airport
There is no rail link. Lahore’s Orange Line metro does not reach the airport and no extension is funded. The Speedo and Metrobus networks run no dedicated airport service either, so buses mean a change at the nearest suburban stop and are only worth it for travellers with time and little luggage. Most passengers arrive by car.
Taxis and ride hailing apps such as inDrive are the sensible choice, since Careem ended ride hailing in Pakistan in 2025. A trip to the Mall Road area costs around PKR 1,000 to 1,500 (roughly £3 to £4) and takes 25 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. The airport road connects directly to the Lahore Ring Road and from there to the M2 motorway for Islamabad, about four hours away. A new three storey car park, completed as the first phase of the expansion, has eased what was once a chaotic forecourt.
Spotting and Photography
Lahore Airport is a sensitive site and security staff take a dim view of cameras near the fence. There is no official viewing terrace. The best realistic option is the departure hall windows, which look over the apron and give clean views of PIA 777s and Emirates A380s on the stands when the airline uses the type. Arrivals on runway 36R pass low over the residential streets south of the field, where a few enthusiasts photograph aircraft from rooftops with permission.
Morning light is best for aircraft on the eastern apron. Winter brings golden afternoons but also the fog that can wipe out a whole day. Keep cameras discreet near any military areas, never photograph military aircraft or installations, and comply immediately with police or airport security if asked to move on. Pakistani law treats airport photography seriously.
Expansion Plans
Work began in 2024 to relieve peak hour congestion, adding a remote stand area and extending the terminal to park two more aircraft, with completion targeted for late 2026. The larger plan is far more ambitious. The Pakistan Airports Authority wants to raise the gate count from seven to 22 and lift annual capacity from around 6 million to 20 million passengers. The design takes its form from the jasmine, Pakistan’s national flower, with four arms spreading from a central core.
Funding and timing remain uncertain, and Pakistan’s economic troubles have slowed many infrastructure projects. Yet demand keeps rising, the Gulf carriers keep adding seats and PIA’s privatisation, completed in June 2026, could bring fresh investment. Lahore Airport is heading towards a major rebuild, even if the timetable slips. Compare it with other South Asian hubs on the Airports of the World map.
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