Whereas most airport terminals are designed simply to move travellers from one place to another, Terminal 1 of Hurghada International Airport attempts something more ambitious: to incorporate the exterior landscape as part of the building. Opened in late 2014, the terminal spans approximately 92,600 square metres distributed across three main levels.
Its most distinctive feature is the enormous soaring roof, whose undulating surface was designed to reflect both the ripples of the Red Sea and the desert terrain surrounding Hurghada. Floor-to-ceiling glass facades and wide, unobstructed interior spaces allow the roof to appear to float above passengers beneath it, creating an effect that architecturally anticipates the destination.
Travellers arrive in the midst of an arid landscape, but the form of the sea already awaits them from above. The terminal serves as gateway to Hurghada and the broader Red Sea resort region, including El Gouna, Makadi Bay, Sahl Hasheesh, Soma Bay and destinations further south.
