Ben Gurion Airport to begin building a new control tower to improve safety

The new NIS 100 million control tower is a new stage in upgrading the runways in the Israel Airport Authority's safety master plan
 
Ben Gurion International Airport announced last week that the tender stage to provide planning and supervision services for the construction of a new air traffic control tower at Ben Gurion airport had been completed.
 
The new NIS 100 million control tower which will adjoin the west side Terminal 3 is a new stage in upgrading the runways in the Israel Airport Authority's safety master plan.
 
The new control tower is being built as part of the Lapidot's Committee's recommendations on improving safety at Ben Gurion Airport.
 
The Lapidot committee, created by former Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, declared the country's aviation security in a"catastrophic state," and criticized Israel's aviation infrastructure, saying it has not incorporated the technological advancements of the past few decades.
 
The committee also discovered air traffic controllers do not always communicate in English and fail to use the appropriate terminology. It recommended that oversight of air control systems improve and make air traffic control training more rigorous.
 
The location and features of the new control tower were determined after a detailed and comprehensive study in cooperation with the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and aviation experts who sat on the Lapidot Committee.
 
In 2008 the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration "uncovered severe security shortcomings" and cited a lack of proper supervision from civilian authorities as the major problem affecting flight safety.
 
Among other findings, the FAA found that Ben-Gurion International Airport suffers from serious flight safety shortcomings and cited Israel's especially crowded airspace as a serious safety concern.