Ben-Gurion Airport inaugurates renovated Terminal 1

The renovated Terminal 1 at Ben-Gurion Airport was inaugurated on Monday. International low-cost airlines will use the terminal. Check-in security checks and boarding will now take place at the terminal, and low-cost passengers will not be brought to Terminal 3.

Projected passenger traffic through Terminal 1 is 1.4 million passengers a year (in one direction, because all landings will still take place at Terminal 3). Terminal 1 was built in 1937 (then called Wilhelma Airport) and has been redesigned in the style of the early days of the state, with retro elements and statues of prominent persons, including prime ministers David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin.

The renovation included the installing of a NIS 60 million hold-baggage screening (HBS) security system, and the area for checking carry-on luggage has been extended. Biometeric passport stands have been added, and nine exit gates for airplanes have been opened. The renovated terminal also includes a duty-free area.

Thirty-three flights are expected to take off daily. The airlines operating from Terminal 1 will pay half the parking fees paid at Terminal 3. These include El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (through Up), Arkia Airlines Ltd., Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., easyJet (the strongest low-cost airline in Israel, whose executives attended the opening of the terminal on Monday), Wizz Air, Pegasus, Ryanair, Blue Bird Airways,and others.

Timna Airport near Eilat is scheduled to open later this year.