Ben Gurion International

A Legacy of Private Aviation

TLV originated near the city of Lydda (now Lod) in 1934 as an airstrip of two unpaved runways during the British Mandate for Palestine. The first passenger service commenced on August 3, 1935, via the Misr Airwork route of Cairo-Lydda (Lod, present-day TLV)-Nicosia. The first regular service to Europe was via LOT Polish Airlines in 1937, and Dutch KLM also began service to TLV that year, and by this point, there were four paved concrete runways at the airport. There were some limited civilian operations during WWII, and in 1943 the airport was renamed RAF Station Lydda, serving for military air transport and aircraft ferry operations between military bases in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South/Southeast Asia. As the German threat in the Middle East was no longer viable in 1944, Aviron Aviation Company began service to Haifa four times a week. By 1946, a transatlantic route to NYC via TWA commenced, and in 1948 the British gave up the airport (as well as the British Mandate for Palestine generally). On July 10, 1948, the airport was captured by the Israeli Defense Forces, and the airport came under the control of the newly formed State of Israel. The airport's name was changed from Lydda to Lod (the town's name in Hebrew), becoming Lod Airport. Flights resumed on November 24, with 40,000 passengers served that year. By 1952 the number had risen drastically to 100,000 a month, and within a decade, the airport became so busy that domestic flights were redirected to Tel Aviv's other airport, Sde Dov. By the mid-1960s, TLV was served by 14 international airlines. The airport was renamed Ben Gurion International Airport in 1973, honoring Israel's first Prime Minister, who died that year. The 1980s and 1990s saw an influx in migration from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. Coupled with the rise of global business travel, it became apparent that TLV's facilities could not handle the rapidly rising number of passengers. Accordingly, plans were made in 1994 for a new state-of-the-art terminal building. The original terminal, now Terminal 1, featured a departure check-in area on the ground floor. In contrast, the main departure hall was on the top floor, along with passport control, duty-free shops, VIP lounges, and more. At the gates, passengers were once more required to descend the stairs, whereby apron shuttles would take them to the aircraft. Following the opening of the new Terminal 3 in 2004, Terminal 1 was only used for domestic flights to Eilat and government flights (such as special immigration flights). Terminal 1 underwent extensive renovations between 2003 and 2009 and has since catered to low-cost airlines (as flights operating from this terminal are charged lower operating fees. On October 28, 2004, the new Terminal 3 opened, replacing Terminal 1 as the leading international gateway. The $1 billion terminal features 40 gates with an upper-level departures hall, a small shopping mall called Buy and Bye (also open to the general public), and passport control and security checks are on the same level as the mall. A tilted glass wall allows viewers to observe plane takeoffs and landings. The arrivals hall is located on the ground floor. Terminal 2 was in operation from 1969 (following the Six Days War) until 2007, serving domestic flights until they moved to the updated Terminal 1, where it was demolished. Terminal 4 was constructed in 1999 but has yet to open officially. Instead, it was used to handle passengers from Asia during the SARS epidemic and for memorial ceremonies, such as the arrival of the casket of Col Ilan Ramon following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003. As for the runways, in the 1960s and 70s, two runways were built, 08/26 (known as the quiet runway) and 03/31 (known as the short runway). These were in addition to the main runway, 12/30. The runway needed to be longer for most commercial operations, so the other two runways received most of the use. Unfortunately, these two runways intersect at the western end, reducing the number of planes that could take off and land, along with some safety concerns. Plans were made in the 1980s and 1990s to extend runways 03/21 and 08/26, with construction beginning in 2010 and being completed in 2014, and included the paving of 22 kilometers of runway and taxiways, thus enabling the airfield to take an "open V' shape, allowing the aircraft movements that can be handled at peak times to double.