Rosh Pina Airport ( he, שְׂדֵה הַתְּעוּפָה רֹאשׁ פִּינָּה, ar, مطار روش بينا) , sometimes called Mahanayim Airport due to its proximity to

Mahanayim Mahanayim ( he, מחניים, מַחֲנַיִם) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Korazim Plateau, around three kilometres northeast of Rosh Pinna, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a ...

, is an Israeli airport located in

Rosh Pinna Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...

, near the Safed-Hatzor-Rosh Pina Industrial Park. The airport is located 16 km from

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

, 29 km from

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

and 30 km from

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, includi ...

History

The airport was built in 1943 during the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The manda ...

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 Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. 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).

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 Ayit Aviation and Tourism ( he, עיט שירותי תעופה ותיירות) is an Israeli domestic airline established in 2008. History Ayit flew between Sde Dov Airport, near Tel Aviv, and Ben Ya'akov Airport near Rosh Pinna. As part of it ...

Ayit Airways, Air Service from Sde Dove to Rosh Pina
/ref> 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 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, Israe ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. However, Sde Dov closed in mid-2019, making travel by air from Tel Aviv to Rosh Pina even less convenient.

Accidents

* On 19 April 1974 two

Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is an American family of heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was originally developed in response to a request from the United States ...

helicopters collided over the airport. One of the helicopters managed to land safely while the other helicopter crashed and caught fire. All 8 IDF soldiers on board died. * On 4 February 1997 two

helicopters took off from the airport on their way towards the Israeli Security Zone in southern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The helicopters collided over

She'ar Yashuv She'ar Yashuv ( he, שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee in the northeastern Hula Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. In it had a population of . Th ...

in northern Israel and crashed, killing all 73 IDF soldiers on board (see 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster).

References

External links

Rosh Pina Airport
{{authority control Airports in Israel