A committee examining the use of the air base at Nevatim as a back-up to Ben-Gurion International Airport, headed by Professor Yitzhak Suari, has ruled that it is unsuitable for the purpose.
The committee recommended instituting a comprehensive search for a supplementary international airport.
The committee approved the main points of a plan to extend Ben-Gurion Airport, but set strict rules and heavy fines for violations of environmental regulations and maximum noise levels in areas coinciding with aircraft take-off paths.
Senior aviation sources report that the chances for rapidly progressing with the future Ben-Gurion Airport project, and the new terminal, have significantly improved.
The sources report that “there is even still a chance of finishing the airport before the end of the decade.”
The Suari Committee report indicated it will not be possible to use Nevatim air base as a civilian airfield in a limited format similar to that of the Avda base, due to the dense military air traffic there.
Airports Authority sources say some $2 billion would be needed to fully convert the Nevatim air base into an international airport.
The Suari Committee determined that the Nevatim air base is unsuitable for heavy-duty, wide-bodied passenger aircraft to land at, and that a $600 million investment would be necessary, which would not be worthwhile.