Rosh Pina Airport

Rosh Pina Airport שְׂדֵה הַתְּעוּפָה רֹאשׁ פִּינָּה‎ Arabic: مطار روش بينا‎‎
Ben Ya'akov Airport
IATA: RPN – ICAO: LLIB RPN Location of airport in Israel
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Israel Airports Authority
Location	Rosh Pina, Mahanayim
Coordinates
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 05/23 3,190 972 Asphalt 15/33 3,655 1,114 Asphalt

Rosh Pina Airport (IATA: RPN, ICAO: LLIB), sometimes called Mahanayim Airport due to its proximity to Mahanayim, is an Israeli airport located in Rosh Pinna, near the Safed-Hatzor-Rosh Pina Industrial Park.

The airport is 16km from Safed, 29km from Tiberias and 30km from Kiryat Shmona.

Rosh Pina airport

History

The airport was built in 1943 during the British Mandate for Palestine. Mahanayim served the British army against Vichy France in Syria. In 1948 the airport was taken over 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

Airlines	Destinations
Ayit Aviation and Tourism	Tel Aviv-Sde Dov

Accidents

• On 19 April 1974 two Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion 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 Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters took off from the airport on their way towards the Israeli Security Zone in southern Lebanon. The helicopters collided over She'ar Yashuv in northern Israel and crashed, killing all 73 IDF soldiers on board (see 1997 Israeli helicopter disaster).

Statistics

Since the beginning of the century the airport has seen a decreasing number of passengers (though this trend has stabilized since 2006). 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. Most flights are to Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv.

Year	Total Domestic Passengers	Total Domestic Operations
1999	168,915	21,647
2000	123,595	18,137
2001	127,123	19,593
2002	108,016	17,926
2003	80,277	15,706
2004	54,764	14,995
2005	45,306	13,149
2006	16,110	11,592
2007	16,790	11,017
2008	19,766	9,703
2009	19,050	7,614
2010	23,067	10,275

External links

• Rosh Pina Airport
• Ayit Airways, Air Service from Sde Dove to Rosh Pina