Ben Gurion International Airport has completed an extensive runway upgrade project.
The Airports Authority invested some 1 billion shekels in paving 15 miles of runway, using more than 1.5 million tons of asphalt, laying 3 million feet of runway lighting cables, 150,000 feet of high-voltage power lines, and 10,000 light fixtures.
The four-year project, which took four years, will improve safety by separating inbound and outbound air traffic, until now hampered by traffic control restrictions; to allow simultaneous takeoffs and landings; and to allow for increased air traffic at the airport.
The new Track 21 was inaugurated by an El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. plane landing from Rhodes, on the new runway at 9:25 am. Later, flights from Antalya, Kiev, Burgas landed on it, and a United Airlines flight from New York.
