Rosh Pina Airport

Rosh Pina Airport (Hebrew: שְׂדֵה הַתְּעוּפָה רֹאשׁ פִּינָּה, Arabic: مطار روش بينا) (IATA: RPN, ICAO: LLIB), sometimes called Mahanayim Airport due to its proximity to Mahanayim, is an Israeli airport located in Rosh Pinna, near the Safed-Hatzor-Rosh Pina Industrial Park.[1] The airport is located 16 km from Safed, 29 km from Tiberias and 30 km from Kiryat Shmona.

Rosh Pina Airport

שדה התעופה ראש פינה
مطار روش بينا
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorIsrael Airports Authority
LocationRosh Pina, Mahanayim
Elevation AMSL922 ft / 281 m
Coordinates32°58′51.77″N 35°34′18.87″E
Map
Rosh Pina Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 3,190 972 Asphalt
15/33 3,655 1,114 Asphalt

History

Aerial view

The airport was built in 1943 during the British Mandate for Palestine and became RAF Station Machanaim. Using 400 mules and Indian soldiers, Major Ronald John Jarvis Horton laid the foundations. With his mules and wooden chariots, he then trekked overland to India and Burma where he fought the Japanese at Kohima. Mahanayim served the British army against Vichy France in Syria. After the British evacuation in 1948, the airport was transferred to Israel for use by the IAF. In the 1950s, Arkia Israel Airlines began service to the airport, working from a hut which served as a passenger terminal and air traffic control tower. By 1968, a new terminal building had been constructed and three years later, in 1971, a fire station and control tower were erected. Following increased activity, the passenger terminal was further expanded in 1994. In 2008 the airport was closed temporarily for the testing of an Elbit Systems unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).[2]

Airlines and destinations

Since the closure of Tel Aviv-Sde Dov, which was the only destination served from Rosh Pina by Ayit Aviation and Tourism[3] there are currently no more scheduled flights at the airport.

Statistics

Since the beginning of the century the airport saw decreasing number of passengers. The drop off in passenger volume has been attributed to major upgrades undertaken on the road infrastructure to the northern periphery of Israel since the early 2000s, leading to a viable alternative to air service to the region. (For example, Egged bus №845, which as of July 2019 travels from Rosh Pina to Tel Aviv in about an hour and 45 minutes.) Most flights from Rosh Pina were to Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv.

YearTotal Domestic PassengersTotal Domestic Operations
1999 168,91521,647
2000 123,59518,137
2001 127,12319,593
2002 108,01617,926
2003 80,27715,706
2004 54,76414,995
2005 45,30613,149
2006 16,11011,592
2007 16,79011,017
2008 19,7669,703
2009 19,0507,614
2010 23,06710,275
2011 15,7829,273
2012 15,2249,491
Source: Israel Airports Authority

Accidents

References

Media related to Ben Ya'akov Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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