The Israeli government recently approved plans to construct a new international airport in the northern part of Israel.
The decision ends a 15-year-long search for a complementary airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport, which is already nearing operational capacity.
The new airport will be located in Ramat David in the Lower Galilee and will be, according to plans, the second largest international airport in the country. It is planned to become operational in 2019.
Ramat David is an operational Israeli Air Force base. The site was chosen over Nevatim air base near Beersheba, Ein Shemer near Hadera, and constructing an artificial island for a new airport. Ramat David was recommended because it had the best infrastructure already in place to support a new international airport.
Ben-Gurion airport can handle 16 million travelers per year and is approaching its limit. In 2015 it is already expected to reach 15 million travelers.
The Galilee airport will service all the travelers that Ben-Gurion airport will be unable to accommodate. The airport will be built using the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) approach, a project which is a type of public-private partnerships. The agreement commits the private company to build and operate a facility for a period of time then within 25 to 30 years return it to the state, transfer ownership to the government.
