Haifa Airport

Haifa Airport (Hebrew: נְמַל הַתְּעוּפָה חֵיפָה‎, Namal HaTe'ufa Haifa; Arabic: مطار حيفا‎) (IATA: HFA, ICAO: LLHA), also known as U Michaeli Airport is a small international airport located in Haifa, Israel. It is located to the east of the city, close to Kishon Port and Israel Shipyards and mainly serves civilian flights, with some military usage. Most passenger flights utilizing the airport are domestic operations to Eilat and Tel Aviv. The airport is named after Uri Michaeli, one of the pioneers of Jewish aviation and one of the founders of aviation in Israel. The airport has one short runway, 1,318 metres (4,324 ft) in length, and there are plans to extend it by 316 metres (1,037 ft).

Haifa Airport

נמל התעופה חיפה
مطار حيفا
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OperatorIsrael Airports Authority
ServesHaifa, Israel
Elevation AMSL28 ft / 9 m
Coordinates32°48′34″N 35°02′35″E
Map
Haifa Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
16/34 4,324 1,318 Asphalt

History
Haifa Airport chart

Haifa Airport was established by the British Mandate in 1934 as its first international airport at the location of RAF Station Haifa which originally served the British Army and the Iraqi-British oil company, APS. RAF Haifa already had passenger service by Imperial Airways to Alexandria (since 1931) and Baghdad (since 1932).[1] In 1936 passenger services by Misr Airwork to Beirut and Cyprus were opened. In 1937, these were joined by Palestine Airways services, as well as Ala Littoria regular services to Brindisi and Trieste via Athens.[2] In 1938 a third of flights into Mandatory Palestine landed in Haifa; but in 1940, civil flights were stopped due to the Second World War in which the airport served the Royal Air Force's operations in the Middle East as RAF Haifa. The RAF station closed in 1948, and the airport re-opened as Haifa Airport.

RAF Haifa

RAF Haifa was a Royal Air Force station in Mandatory Palestine between 1918 and 1948.[3]

Operational units at RAF Haifa 1938 to 1948:[4]

Haifa Airport post-1948

The airport reopened for passenger traffic in 1948 with flights operated by Cyprus Airways. This was followed ten years later by Arkia Israel Airlines flights. It wasn't until 1994, however, that the airport received international status, and at this time, it was planned that the airport would serve flights to destinations across Europe.[5] Less than a year later, the airport was placed for sale. At this time, great interest in the site was shown by the French construction group, Bouygues, as well as British Aerospace.[6]

These expected services never really took off however, and it wasn't until 1996, and the start of Israir flights, that the airport grew. This growth was further increased in 1998 with Aeroel service. Royal Wings increased route offerings once again with flights from Jordan, whilst Scorpio started flights to Egypt. In 1998, a new terminal was opened at the airport to cater for all of the services needed in a modern international airport. In the past there were three takeoff and landing runways in the airport, of which only two still exist, and only one is currently in use.

In 2001, talk over expanding the airport restarted when then Finance Minister, Silvan Shalom called for an 800 million NIS upgrade to turn the airport into one of an international standard.[7]

2007 saw the first rise in passenger numbers and aircraft movements since 2002 with an increase of 25% in passenger numbers and a 7% increase in aircraft movements over the previous year. In general, between the peak point of its operation in 1999 and 2007 passenger number have fallen by 50%. Aircraft movements have decreased from 2002 to 2007 by 34%.

The Israel Airports Authority intends to extend the runway to 1,634m sometime in the 2020s. This will involve extending the runway northwards, across Julius Simon Road, which will then pass in a tunnel underneath the runway.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Israir Airlines Eilat, Larnaca[8]
Seasonal: Rhodes[9]
Seasonal charter: Paphos

Statistics
Statistics for Haifa Airport[10][11][12]
YearTotal passengersTotal operations
1999 130,571 
2000 137,858 
2001 120,301 
2002 127,20020,587
2003 93,38516,978
2004 70,83116,225
2005 61,33413,082
2006 52,38812,614
2007 65,55113,531
2008 64,80913,367
2009 50,6778,714
2010 83,13113,602
2011 74,24412,067
2012 78,03312,037
2013 81,80415,969
2014 102,57821,271
2015 110,80518,197
2016 119,11317,086
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See also

References

Citations
  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=hV9zeYpzCawC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=%22palestine+airways%22
  2. https://www.israelairlinemuseum.org/el-al-israels-flying-star/chapter-1-from-flying-camels-to-flying-stars-israel-reborn/
  3. http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-H.htm#Haifa
  4. Lake, Alan. Flying units of the RAF. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84037-086-6.
  5. "Haifa Airport to go international". Jerusalem Post. 21 December 1994. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  6. "Haifa airport for sale. (Bouygues to bid on Haifa, Israel, airport)". Israel Business Today. 16 June 1995. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  7. "Shalom calls for NIS 800m. upgrade of Haifa airport". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
  8. Liu, Jim (10 January 2020). "Israir resumes Haifa – Larnaca service in late-Dec 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  9. Liu, Jim (3 February 2020). "Israir adds Haifa – Rhodes service from June 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  10. "Haifa - U Michaeli Airport (HFA/LLHA)". Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  11. "Facts and Figures". Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  12. "Facts and Figures". Retrieved 2 December 2016.

Bibliography
  • Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.

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