Timeframe: When Sharjah Airport became a global gateway in 1977

It was the vision of the Emirate's Ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, to build a world-class hub - and it was all based on a design he sketched himself

Sharjah International Airport opened in 1977. Photo: Sharjah Airport

Long before Sharjah International Airport officially opened in 1977, the emirate had already established itself as a key aviation hub, with its first aircraft touching down more than 45 years earlier.

Sharjah Air Station as it was then called, welcomed its first flight in 1932, when a plane from Pakistan's Gwadar touched down on October 5. The Imperial Airways (now British Airways) aircraft, nicknamed Hanno, landed at 4pm on its way to the UK, picking up fuel, passengers and mail in the UAE before setting off on its westward journey.

The establishment of the airport by Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the then Ruler of Sharjah, helped to open the emirate to the outside world long before neighbouring Dubai became the thriving tourism hotspot it is today.

But it was the vision of Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, to build a world-class airport that would match the emirate's growing stature. Sheikh Dr Sultan, who had a degree in agricultural engineering, sketched the architecture and its distinctive three-domed design, his trusted adviser, British architect Mel Stewart told The National in 2020.

Sharjah ruler Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi’s sketch of Sharjah Airport. Photo: Mel Stewart

Stewart, who first moved to Sharjah in 1974 with British engineering company Halcrow to work as an engineer on Port Khalid, spent more than four decades in the country and had a front-row seat to the emirate's dizzying rise.

Made of steel lattice and clad in glass-reinforced plastic, the three interconnected domes of varying sizes incorporate traditional Islamic architectural elements. The control tower was shaped to resemble a traditional minaret as a subtle tribute to Islamic architecture and the emirate’s heritage.

Located 15km from the original airport in Al Mahatta, which has now been converted into an aviation museum, Sharjah Airport rapidly emerged as an international gateway, standing alongside Abu Dhabi and Dubai as the UAE’s aviation centres.

The old Sharjah airport tower at Al Mahatta Museum in Sharjah. Paulo Vecina / The National

In 1979, a freight centre was inaugurated at the airport.

Another milestone moment came in 2003 when the first Air Arabia flight took off from its home base, Sharjah Airport. The flight to Bahrain, lasting a little more than an hour, marked the launch of the first low-cost airline in the Mena region. In fewer than 20 years, Air Arabia grew from flying five routes with only two aircraft, to serving more than 170 destinations around the world.

The airport's passenger terminal was expanded in 2008 to accommodate the growing number of travellers passing through the airport. In 2014, Sheikh Dr Sultan inaugurated a new runway, spanning 4,060 metres with a width of 60 metres, and built at a cost of Dh500 million. Running parallel to the existing strip, the new runway was inaugurated by the take-off and landing of Sheikh Dr Sultan’s private jet.

Sharjah International Airport in 2008. Ryan Carter / The National

Last year, Sharjah International Airport announced a major Dh2.4 billion expansion plan to boost its capacity from eight million to 20 million passengers annually by 2027. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, laid the foundation stone for the project, one of the biggest renovations the airport has undergone since its inauguration in 1977.

The airport welcomed more than 5.13 million passengers in the third quarter of this year, an 16 per cent increase compared to the same period last year – an impressive arc from a lone aircraft landing on desert sands to a modern gateway serving millions.