Kiryat Shmona Airport ( he, שדה התעופה קריית שמונה) is a public

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i airport located 2 km east of the northern town of

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona ( he, קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה, ''lit.'' Town of the Eight) is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border. The city was named after the eight people, inclu ...

. The airport is operated by Kiryat Shmona Travellers Inc.

History

Its history was checkered based on lack of economic viability and local political differences.

Arkia Arkia, legally incorporated as Arkia Israeli Airlines Ltd ( he, ארקיע, ''I will soar'', ar, خطوط أركيا), is an Israeli airline. Its head office is on the grounds of Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is Israel's second-largest ...

handled domestic flights until end of 2003, when it closed down due to a lack of passenger traffic. Now rights to fly a domestic route to and from the airport are held by

Tamir Airways Tamir Airways was an Israeli regional airline based in Tel Aviv. Destinations The airline operated domestic scheduled and air taxi flights from Sde Dov Airport, Tel Aviv to Rosh Pina Airport as well as owning the rights to fly to the defunct Kir ...

, 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 The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

broke out, but they changed their mind because they saw it as a "mission of national importance". Nevertheless, they ceased their (twice a day) flights to

Sde Dov Airport Sde Dov Airport ( he, שדה דב, ''lit.'' Dov Field, ar, مطار سدي دوف), also known as Dov Hoz Airport ( he, נמל התעופה דב הוז, ''Nemal HaTe'ufa Dov Hoz'', ar, مطار دوف هوز) was an airport in Tel Aviv, Isra ...

on June 1, 2007. The next closest airport is Ben Ya'akov near

Rosh Pina Rosh Pina (ראש פינה) is a lay-led independent minyan in Washington, D.C. It meets for Shabbat morning services twice a month in the National Museum of American Jewish Military History (NMAJMH). It also meets occasionally for Friday night a ...

, 30 km south. Image:KiryatShmonaAndAirport.jpg, Kiryat Shemona and its airport in the background Image:KiryatShmonaOldTerminal.jpg, Old (previous) terminal, permanently closed Image:KiryatShmonaRunway21.jpg, Runway 21 with Naftali hills in the background

References

Airports in Israel {{Israel-transport-stub