A new flight line from Haifa to Larnaca and Paphos in Cyprus was launched this week at Haifa Airport. The line is operated by Air Malta narrow body jets, and is marketed by the companies Issta and Israir. At this point, three daily flights operated from the airport, two to Larnaca and one to Paphos.

Minister of Transportation, Brigadier General Miri Regev: “Connecting the north and the south to the center of the country is for me a strategic social and economic goal of the highest order. I welcome the return to operation of the airport in Haifa, with the opening of a regular flight to Cyprus. There is no need for the residents of Haifa and the north to have to come to Israel for every short vacation or business trip. I call on more European airlines to operate direct routes to Haifa, for the benefit of the residents of the north as well as for tourists who wish to reach the many tourist sites in the north of the country”.

An airport in Haifa was established by the British in 1934 and was the first international airport in Israel. Over the years, international air activity moved to Lod Airport, later Ben Gurion Airport, but most of the time international flights were also made from Haifa, mainly to nearby destinations including Egypt, Jordan and especially Cyprus, which is only a 50-minute flight away.

The activity in the field is limited due to the length of the runway, which currently does not allow the landing of large planes. Plans to extend the route are examined from time to time, but encounter difficulties due to the density and the many needs along the coastal strip in Haifa Bay, which includes leading civilian ports, a military port of the Navy, Israeli shipyards and more.