Jerusalem International Airport ( he, נמל התעופה ירושלים, ar, مطار القدس الدولي) , (also Kalandia Airport, Qalandia Airport, and Atarot Airport) is a regional airport, currently not in use, located between

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and Ramallah. When it was opened in 1924 it was the first airport in the British Mandate for Palestine. Under the British Mandate in Palestine

Cyprus Airways Cyprus Airways (Greek: Κυπριακές Αερογραμμές) is the flag carrier airline of Cyprus, based at Larnaca International Airport. It commenced operations on 1 June 2017. History Cyprus Airways resumed operations in 2016 after win ...

flew to the airport, and this continued intermittently after Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960, and Royal Jordanian and

Middle East Airlines Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. ( ar, طيران الشرق الأوسط ـ الخطوط الجوية اللبنانية ''Ṭayyarān al-Sharq al-Awsaṭ – al-Khuṭūṭ al-jawiyyah al-lubnāniyyah''), more commonly known as Middle ...

were known to operate daily commercial flights to and from Atarot airport between 1948 and 1967 under Jordanian rule. After Israel occupied the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

in 1967, it came under Israeli occupation. It was annexed to Israel in 1981 under the

Jerusalem Law The Jerusalem Law (, ar, قانون القدس) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on 30 July 1980 (17th Av, 5740). Although the law did not use the term, the Israeli Supreme Court interpreted the ...

Arkia Arkia, legally incorporated as Arkia Israeli Airlines Ltd ( he, ארקיע, ''I will soar'', ar, خطوط أركيا), is an Israeli airline. Its head office is on the grounds of Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is Israel's second-largest ...

and El Al Israel Airlines operated daily commercial flights to and from the airport between 1967 and 2001, when the airport was closed to civilian traffic after the breakout of the Second Intifada in 2000.

History

From 1924 until 1927, the airfield in

Kalandia Qalandia ( ar, قلنديا, he, קלנדיה), also Kalandiya, is a Palestinian village located in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, just west from the Jerusalem municipality boundary. In 2006, 1,154 people were living in the vi ...

was the only airport in the British Mandate for Palestine. It was used by the British military authorities and prominent guests bound for Jerusalem. In 1931, the Mandatory government expropriated land from the Jewish village of

Atarot Atarot ( he, עטרות) was a moshav in Mandatory Palestine, north of Jerusalem along the highway to Ramallah. It was named after the biblical Atarot mentioned in , which is believed to have been situated nearby. The moshav was captured and d ...

to expand the airfield, in the process demolishing homes and uprooting fruit orchards. In 1936, the airport was opened for regular flights. The village of Atarot was captured and destroyed by the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...

during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. From 1948 to the

in June 1967, the airport was under Jordanian control, designated ''OJJR''. Following the Six Day War, the Jerusalem airport was incorporated into the Jerusalem city municipal area and was designated ''LLJR''. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Israel invested considerable resources in upgrading the airport and creating the infrastructure for a full-fledged international airport but the international aviation authorities, bearing in mind that the airport was in lands captured in 1967 by Israel, would not allow international flights to land there. Thus the airport was only used for domestic flights and charter flights. Due to security issues during the Second Intifada, the airport was closed to civilian air traffic in October 2000 and by July 2001 it was formally handed over to the Israel Defense Forces. In maps presented by Israel at the 2000 Camp David Summit, Atarot was included in the Israeli built-up area of Jerusalem. This was rejected by the Palestinian delegation, which envisioned it as a national airport for the Palestinians.

Yossi Beilin Yosef "Yossi" Beilin ( he, יוסף "יוסי" ביילין, born 12 June 1948) is an Israeli politician who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Pa ...

proposed that the airport be used jointly as part of an overall sharing of Jerusalem between

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and Palestinian Authority, citing the successful model of Geneva International Airport, which is used by both Switzerland and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Atarot settlement plan

A planning committee was scheduled to discuss on 6 December 2021, a proposal for 9,000 housing units. The site is between the

Beit Hanina Beit Hanina ( ar, بيت حنينا , he, בית חנינא) is an Arab Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is on the road to Ramallah, eight kilometers north of central Jerusalem, at an elevation of 780 meters above sea level. Bei ...

and Kafr Aqab, the "last free space for development left for Palestinians in the Jerusalem area." However on 25 November 2021, under pressure from the Biden administration in the United States, Israel has shelved plans to redevelop Jerusalem airport site.

Gallery

Jerusalem Airport Terminal Dec 23 1961.jpg, Atarot Airport/Jerusalem in 1961 Arkia 4X-ASR at Jerusalem.jpg, An Israeli aircraft at Atarot Airport in 1968 Jerusalem airport Atarot 2010.jpg, The closed entrance to Atarot Airport in 2010, with a police jeep guarding

ICAO codes

The airport is sometimes shown with two different ICAO codes. The List of airports by ICAO code: L#LL – Israel, LL designator is used by ICAO for airports in Israel and List of airports by ICAO code: O#OJ - Jordan, OJ is the code for

In popular culture

The airport is depicted in the film ''World War Z (film), World War Z'' as the main Israeli airport defended from a zombie epidemic. In reality all the Israeli scenes in the film were shot in Malta.

References

External links

{{authority control Airports in the West Bank Transport in Jerusalem Buildings and structures in Jerusalem 1924 establishments in Mandatory Palestine