Runways at OAKB
According to OurAirports data (compiled from AIP and FAA sources), Kabul International Airport has one runway: 11/29 - 3,500 m long (11,483 ft), 50 m wide, asphalt surface.
Kabul International Airport (OAKB / KBL)
Afghanistan · elevation 5877 ft AMSL
· 34.5659, 69.2123
About Kabul International Airport
Kabul International Airport is an airport with the ICAO code OAKB and the IATA code KBL. Country: Afghanistan. Nearest settlement listed in the database: Kabul. OurAirports classifies it as a large airport. Its ICAO code starts with the OA prefix, which marks airports in Afghanistan. The four-letter code OAKB is used in flight operations and weather reports, while the three-letter IATA code KBL is used for ticketing and baggage handling. The airport reference point sits at 34°33'57"N, 69°12'44"E, at an elevation of 5,877 ft (1,791 m) above sea level. The applicable time zone is Asia/Kabul.
Satellite view of OAKB
Aerial imagery showing the runway and apron layout - the zoom is matched to the longest runway.
Runways of OAKB
| Threshold | Course | Length | Width | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 110° | 3,500 m (11,483 ft) | 50 m (164 ft) | asphalt |
| 29 | 290° |
The course is derived from the runway designator (number × 10), not from a survey - the actual magnetic bearing can differ by a few degrees.
Declared distances (TORA, TODA, ASDA, LDA) are published in the national AIP - they are not part of this table.
Runway headings and wind
The thresholds are oriented as follows: 11/29 on 110° and 290° magnetic. A threshold designator is its magnetic heading divided by ten (ICAO Annex 14), so the runway axis can be read straight off the numbers.
For the 11/29 axis, wind from the south (around 200°) or from the north (around 20°) blows perpendicular to the runway and produces the largest crosswind component. Wind from around 110° or 290° acts along the runway, as a headwind or a tailwind. The decoder on this page computes those components automatically from the current METAR.
METAR and TAF for OAKB
Weather reports for Kabul International Airport are published under the ICAO code OAKB. A METAR is an observation of current conditions, usually issued every 30 or 60 minutes; a TAF is a forecast for the airport area, typically covering 9 to 30 hours.
The decoder breaks the OAKB report down into its parts: wind direction and speed including gusts and variability, visibility (including CAVOK and directional minimum visibility), weather phenomena by WMO code, cloud layers with their bases, temperature and dew point, QNH pressure, and the resulting flight category - VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR - using FAA thresholds.
Not every airport issues its own reports; many smaller airfields have no weather station. If no current data is available for OAKB, check the nearby airports listed below.
Reports always use UTC (the Z suffix). The Asia/Kabul zone stays at GMT+04:30 year-round, so converting to local time is always the same shift.
The closest airports in the database, measured in a straight line from the reference point, are Bagram Airfield (OAIX, 43 km), Logar Airport (OALG, 67 km), Shank Air Base (Baraki Barak) (OASH, 73 km). When no report is available for OAKB, they usually give the best approximation of conditions in the area.
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