S

ince the creation of the state of

Israel in 1948, Ben Gurion Airport

has played an important role in

the country’s history, such as

handling the arrival of huge numbers of

Jewish immigrants from all over the world,

and has even remained open during wars.

It is the only airport that handles scheduled

international services and so is the main point

of entry for overseas visitors to the Holy Land.

The original air eld – built in 1936 on

the outskirts of the town of Lydda (now the

Israeli city of Lod) during the British Mandate

for Palestine – was known as Wilhelma

Airport, after a German Templer colony,

Wilhelma-Hamîdije, and constructed with

four concrete runways, each 2,624ft (800m)

long and which crossed each other in a

pattern that was typical of the time.

The Royal Air Force started using the

air eld on March 1, 1943 – as RAF Station

Lydda – for air transport and aircraft ferry

operations to Africa, the Middle East (mainly

Iraq and Persia) and south and southeast

Asia. Three years later it returned to its

original role as an international airport with

an inaugural TWA  ight to New York.

The British gave up control of the airport

in January 1948 and it was taken over by

the Arab Legion before being captured by

the newly formed Israel Defense Forces

during the Arab-Israeli War, which started

the day after Israel declared independence

on May 14. On November 24 that year, the

then Lod International Airport (IATA code

TLV) reopened as the new Israeli state’s only

aerial gateway to the world. Over the next

12 months it handled 40,000 passengers

and played a key role in the immigration of

180,000 Jews from Yemen and Iraq as well

as Europe between 1949 and 1952.

In 1949, airlines El Al (for international

 ights) and Arkia (domestic services) set

up there. Four years later Bedek Aviation

Company – subsequently known as

Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), then Israel

Aerospace Industries – began operating at

the airport.

In 1951 the  rst of many projects to

improve the airport started and included

expanding and renovating the terminal

building, which included the air traffic control

tower and emergency services centre, to

meet the demand from rising passenger

numbers.

JET ERA

On November 24, 1959 the  rst jet airliner

landed in Israel – a de Havilland Comet of

BEA, which touched down at the airport to

test the main runway. Construction started

on Terminal 2 at the eastern end of the

airport in 1967 and it opened two years later

to handle domestic  ights to Eilat and Haifa.

While signi cantly smaller than the main

facility, it was also used for international

services when the airport was very busy.

The Yom Kippur War in October 1973

represented a major test for the airport.

Between October 14 and November 14,

US forces conducted Operation Nickel

Grass, a strategic airlift to deliver weapons

BEN GURIO N AIRPORT

ISRAEL’S INTERNATIONAL GATEWAY

Noam Menashe describes the fascinating history of Israel’s biggest

airport and the developments to meet its ever-growing passenger numbers.

36 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2017

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