# Annaba Rabah Bitat Airport (AAE)

> Annaba, DZ · IATA: AAE · ICAO: DABB · Medium Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `AAE` |
| ICAO | `DABB` |
| City | Annaba |
| Country | DZ |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 5 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 36.82678, 7.81334 |

## Description

Air Algérie, Tassili Airlines and ASL Airlines France anchor the scheduled network at Rabah Bitat Airport (IATA: AAE, ICAO: DABB), which handles air freight almost entirely as belly cargo on those passenger flights rather than on dedicated freighters. The airport sits about 9 km south of Annaba, the industrial centre of Algeria's north-east, where the El Hadjar steelworks and the regional phosphate trade generate tonnage that moves by sea rather than by air. An international terminal opened in 2016 with an expandable capacity of 700,000 passengers a year, so belly capacity grows with the passenger schedule; routes reach France, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. The Annaba seaport lies roughly 8 km away, making the location practical for sea-air combinations, while road and rail run inland toward Constantine. Customs clearance goes through Algeria's Douane, which requires a commercial invoice, packing list and, depending on the goods, conformity documentation. For genuine freighter capacity, shippers route via Algiers Houari Boumediene (ALG), where Air Algérie Group and airport operator SGSIA signed a memorandum in April 2026 to build a modern air cargo hub in a rebuilt Terminal 3 of 10,530 m² with 25,500 m³ of storage including cold-chain zones — a response to group cargo growth of 26.5% in 2023, 31% in 2024 and above 25% again in 2025.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/annaba-rabah-bitat-airport-aae](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/annaba-rabah-bitat-airport-aae)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/annaba-rabah-bitat-airport-aae](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/annaba-rabah-bitat-airport-aae)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/annaba-rabah-bitat-airport-aae/llm-summary*