BEN GURIO N AIRPORT
ISRAEL’S INTERNA TIONAL GATEWAY
and supplies to Israel. Over 32 days the
USAF’s Military Airlift Command ew in
22,325 tons of tanks, artillery, ammunition
and supplies in Lockheed C-141 Starlifter
and C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft on 566
ights.
US support helped ensure Israel survived
the co-ordinated surprise attack from the
Arab Republic of Egypt and Syrian Arab
Republic. Civil ights were reduced to the
minimum possible during this period and
used to evacuate tourists and others who
wanted to leave the country. After the death
of Israel’s rst Prime Minister, David Ben
Gurion, on December 1, 1973 the airport
was renamed in his honour (ICAO code
LLBG, previously it was LLLB).
The rise in domestic and international
ights and need for co-ordination with the
Israeli Air Force in such a small amount of
national airspace led the government to form
the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) in 1977.
It took over the operational and nancial
management of all airports and land
crossings into Israel and began renovating
the historic Terminal 1 and other facilities,
adding a second oor which was used for
duty free and a food court plus new boarding
gates and a 150ft (48m) control tower.
BUILDING FOR A
NEW MILLENNIUM
In the 1990s the IAA and Israeli Government
looked at the facilities the airport would need
in the new millennium. At the time, Terminal
1 was handling 5m passengers a year –
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 37
wanted to leave the country. After the death crossings into Israel and began renovating
Above: The original terminal under construction in the 1930s with a Percival Vega
Gull in the foreground. Matson Photo Service – G Eric and Edith Matson Photograph
Collection, Library of Congress
Right: The original layout of Lydda Airport, now Ben Gurion. Matson Photo Service –
G Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection, Library of Congress
An El Al Boeing 747-400 taking
off from Ben Gurion Airport.
AirTeamImages.com/Ido Wachtel
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