Kiryat Shmona Airport
| Kiryat Shmona Airport | |||||||||||
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| IATA: KSW – ICAO: LLKS | |||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Disputed | ||||||||||
| Serves | Kiryat Shmona | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 376 ft / 115 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°13′00.00″N 35°35′48.00″E / 33.2166667°N 35.5966667°E | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Kiryat Shmona Airport (IATA: KSW, ICAO: LLKS) is a public Israeli airport located 2 km east of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona.
Its history, based on lack of economic viability and local political differences, has seen various closures and reopenings.
Arkia handled domestic flights until end of 2003,[1][2] when it closed down due to a lack of passenger traffic.[3]
Now rights to fly a domestic route to and from the airport are held by Tamir Airways,[4] while rights to operate the landing strip are owned by a separate company that is in a dispute with Tamir Airways.
In 2006, the new airport terminal was opened.
Tamir Airways announced that it would stop flying to Upper Galilee shortly before the Second Lebanon War broke out, but they changed their mind because they saw it as a "mission of national importance".[5] Nevertheless, they ceased their (twice a day) flights to Sde Dov Airport on June 1, 2007.
Currently, the airport operator and the mayor of Kiryat Shmona have yet to resolve the dispute and because of this the airport does not function.[6]
The next closest airport is Ben Ya'akov near Rosh Pina, 30 km south.
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Kiryat Shemona and its airport in the background
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Old (previous) terminal, permanently closed
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Runway 21 with Naftali hills in the background
References
- ↑ "Tamir Company criticises the state: Mofaz and Siterman working illegally". Nfc.co.il (in Hebrew). 15 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ↑ "Tel Aviv-Rosh Pina flights to be renewed". Ynetnews. 17 January 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2006.
- ↑ "News collection: From the North to the South". Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew). 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on March 24, 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ↑ Zohar Blumenkrantz (21 January 2007). "The Movement for Quality Government gets involved in the power struggle over the running of Kiryat Shmona airport". The Marker (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 April 2007.
- ↑ Zohar Blumenkrantz (17 May 2007). "Airline to stop flights to Galilee as of June 1 (2007)". Retrieved 2007-05-19.
- ↑ Zohar Blumenkrantz (8 October 2006). "Flights to the north stopped due to financial disagreements". Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 5 April 2007.
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