Ben-Gurion Airport may relocate to Eilat amid rising tensions with Iran – analysis

In every attack on Israel, whether by Iran or Hezbollah, Ben-Gurion Airport is considered a potential target.

The airport in Lod is a national symbol, the main gateway to Israel through which nearly 60,000 people pass daily – even now when dozens of foreign airlines have canceled or suspended their flights to Israel.

The fact that US Air Force transport planes land at the civilian airport with ammunition, and that the area between Yehud and Lod and Highway 40 houses the Israel Aerospace Industries headquarters and some of its production facilities, makes the region a prominent target in the intelligence files of countries and terrorist organizations.

The Air Force does not disclose the locations of Iron Dome batteries, but interceptions have often been observed around Ben-Gurion Airport. Even when the airport was closed temporarily due to rocket fire, it was shut down for a short while to clear interception debris from the runways to avoid damaging aircraft engines and tires.

Currently, there are no plans to close the airport. However, in case of prolonged attacks, the “Silver Wings” contingency plan will begin, and the Ben-Gurion Airport’s operations will be relocated to Ramon Airport near Eilat.

Although a few rockets were launched by Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen toward the Ramon airport since the war began, and remnants of rockets and UAVs have been found nearby – mostly after interception – the assessment is that Ramon is much safer threatened than Ben-Gurion. This is due to the destruction of most of Hamas’s long-range rockets by the IDF, and because Ramon is protected by the Iron Dome in Eilat and the Arrow missile defense system in the south.

Large-scale operations in crisis

In the event of activating the procedure, all involved parties have 12 hours to relocate operations southward. While currently only a few daily flights from Arkia and Israir operate from Ramon Airport, the Airports Authority, and airlines have organized lists for employees who will transfer to Ramon to strengthen its existing staff. The goal is to maintain air connectivity between Israel and the world even during a large-scale attack, particularly to accommodate international flights from Israeli airlines, rather than diverting them to Cyprus as in the past.

During the construction of Ramon Airport, it was decided to extend the runways to 3.6 kilometers and expand the parking areas to accommodate larger passenger aircraft that do not normally land there, such as Boeing 787s, 777s, and Airbus A350s. The relatively extensive infrastructure at Ramon Airport allows it to handle transatlantic flights to the US or flights to the East.

To accommodate aircraft from all Israeli airlines if needed, Ramon Airport has parking for about 60 passenger planes. In the event of a severe attack, the airport is also expected to handle urgent cargo flights, including shipments of weapons or humanitarian aid.

Unlike Ben-Gurion Airport, which is designed to handle about 30 million passengers annually, Ramon Airport is much smaller and built for 1.8 million passengers annually.

The airport lacks jet bridges for direct boarding and uses stair vehicles, which can be challenging for passengers with mobility issues, though there are dedicated lift vehicles available. Due to its size, the airport can only manage around ten simultaneous flights and will naturally handle fewer flights during a large-scale attack.

The significant distance of Ramon Airport from the central region – three hours by car or bus – presents a challenge and will require increased public transportation to and from the airport. Normally, the airport is so disconnected from the transportation network that passengers must first take a bus to Eilat and then transfer to a northern-bound bus from there.

The Airports Authority and the Transportation Ministry plan to boost public transport to Ramon Airport in an emergency, and Transportation Minister Miri Regev has confirmed that the airport is prepared for a possible attack.

However, during Operation Protective Edge, when Ben-Gurion Airport was closed due to rocket attacks and flights were redirected to the IDF’s Ovda base, those plans failed, leaving thousands of Israelis struggling to get to or from the airport. Currently, the Transportation Ministry can operate shuttles to and from Ramon Airport from the Beersheba Central train station.

During Operation Protective Edge, Ben-Gurion Airport was effectively closed due to decisions by European and US aviation authorities, which banned flights to Israel over concerns for aircraft and crew safety. This time, fewer foreign airlines are flying to Israel, and a significant volume of traffic from Turkey is missing. However, the number of airlines from the Persian Gulf continuing flights to Israel has increased, and landing in Eilat can shorten their routes to Israel.

A closure of Ben-Gurion Airport would halt domestic flights in Israel, particularly the main route from Eilat to Ben-Gurion, complicating travel for Eilat residents needing medical treatments and business in the center of the country.

During Operation Protective Edge, flights from Eilat were redirected to Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv. However, due to the strategic short-sightedness of the Ministry of Transportation under Israel Katz, Sde Dov was closed, leaving Ben-Gurion without a nearby alternative.