Cairo International Airport (IATA: CAI, ICAO: HECA) (Arabic: مطار القاهرة الدولي; Maṭār El Qāhira El Dawli) is a major international airport serving Cairo and its metropolitan area. It is the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. The airport serves as the primary hub for EgyptAir and Nile Air as well as several other airlines. The airport is located in Heliopolis, to the northeast of Cairo around fifteen kilometres (eight nautical miles) from the business area of the city and has an area of approximately 37 km² (14 sq mi). It is the busiest airport in Africa and the 9th busiest airport in the Middle East in terms of total passengers.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) built John Payne Field Air Force Base to serve the Allied Forces, rather than take over the existing Almaza Airport located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away. Payne Field was a major Air Transport Command air cargo and passenger hub, connecting westwards through Benghazi Airport (during the war known as Soluch Airfield) to Algiers airport on the North African route to Dakar Airport, in French West Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Other locations that transport routes were flown were RAF Habbaniya, Iraq on the Cairo – Karachi, India route; Lydda Airport, British Palestine; Jeddah, Arabia, on the Central African route to Roberts Field, Liberia (1941–1943), and later, after the war ended, Athens, Greece and on to destinations in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

When American forces left the base at the end of the war, the Civil Aviation Authority took over the facility and began using it for international civil aviation. In 1963, Cairo International Airport replaced the old Heliopolis Airport, which had been located at the Hike-Step area in the east of Cairo.

The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, which controls the Cairo Airport Company, the Egyptian Airports Company, National Air Navigation Services and Aviation Information Technology, and the Cairo Airport Authority. In 2004, Fraport AG won the management contract to run the airport for eight years, with options to extend the contract twice in one-year increments.

Terminal 1 is the oldest terminal currently in operation, having been inaugurated on 18 March 1963 by President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Over the years, the terminal witnessed several expansion projects; a second hall was constructed between 1977–79 and a third one was completed in 1980. In the early 2000s, work commenced on the renovation of the ground floor, along with the addition of an expanded departure hall containing a mezzanine floor, thereby allowing more natural light into the terminal. All phases of the project were completed by the end of 2003.

Terminal 2 was originally inaugurated in 1986 with a relatively compact design that included seven boarding gates and limited expansion capability. As passenger traffic increased, the terminal’s layout became a constraint on capacity and operational efficiency, contributing to the need for a comprehensive redevelopment programme.

In response to rising demand, the World Bank approved a US$280 million loan in 2010 to support the Cairo Airport Development Project, which included the rehabilitation and expansion of Terminal 2. The project involved demolishing and reconstructing significant portions of the existing terminal to modernise infrastructure and increase passenger handling capacity.