Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

Kandahar, Kandahar Province (Afghanistan)

IATA: KDH ICAO: OAKN

Longest Active Runway

10,532 ft

3,210 meters

Field Elevation

3,337 ft

1,017 m MSL

Runway Inventory

1 active

Lighted / Paved

Coordinates & Class

31.5058°, 65.8480°

LARGE AIRPORT

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Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

tied #442 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#709 of 7558

Top 9.4% percentile worldwide

For airports with equal runway length, the worldwide order does not indicate a length difference.

National Standing (Afghanistan)

#2 of 4 in AF

#3 of 13 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

+5.3%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 KDH in numbers: 10,532 ft longest runway · tied #442 of 650 published · #709 of 7,558 worldwide (top 9.4%) · #2 in Afghanistan.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway ≥10,500 ft

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Elevation & National Context

Mid-Altitude Aerodrome (2,000–4,999 ft)

KDH lies at 1,017 m (3,337 ft), #81 of 650 published airports by elevation and 87.5 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 65 ft above the Afghanistan median (3,272 ft, 4 airports); KBL is highest at 5,877 ft, 2,540 ft higher than KDH.

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Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

1 Qualifying Aerodrome in Vicinity

Closest of 1 paved-runway (≥5,000 ft) neighbour within 100 NM: Quetta International Airport (UET), 93.9 NM, 12,001 ft. UET has the radius's longest runway, 1,469 ft more than KDH.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 10,532 ft (3,210 m)

KDH runway: 05/23 10,532 × 148 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: #2 of 4 in Afghanistan; KBL leads by 951 ft (11,483 ft). +5.3% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
05/23	10,532 ft (3210 m / 3.210 km)	148 ft (45m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active

🧭 Comparative Aerodromes (100 NM Radius, ≥5,000 ft Paved)

Great-circle Haversine spatial proximity matching for commercial facilities with paved runway capacity within 100 NM.

Aerodrome Name	IATA	Distance	Longest Runway	Lighting
Quetta International Airport (Quetta)	`UET`	93.9 NM (173.9 km)	12,001 ft	✅ Lighted

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →