Haifa Airport (, Namal HaTe'ufa Haifa; ) , also known as Uri Michaeli Airport, is an international airport in Haifa, Israel. It is Israel's oldest international airport and the third-busiest (in terms of passenger traffic). Located to the east of the city, close to Port of Haifa and Israel Shipyards, Haifa Airport serves scheduled and charter flights as well as general aviation, with some military usage. The airport is named after Uri Michaeli, one of the pioneers of Jewish aviation and one of the founders of aviation in Israel. The airport has one short runway, in length, and there are plans to extend it by .

History

British Mandate Haifa Airport was established by the British Mandate in 1934 as its first international airport at the location of RAF Haifa, which originally served the Iraq Petroleum Company and the British Army. RAF Haifa already had passenger service by Imperial Airways to Alexandria (since 1931) and Baghdad (since 1932). In 1936 passenger Misr Airwork operated flights to Baghdad, Beirut, Cyprus and Lydda. In 1937, these were joined by Palestine Airways services, as well as Ala Littoria regular services to Brindisi and Trieste via Athens. In 1938 a third of the flights into Mandatory Palestine landed in Haifa; but in 1940, civil flights were stopped due to the Second World War in which the airport served the Royal Air Force's operations in the Middle East as RAF Haifa. The RAF station closed in 1948, and the airport re-opened as Haifa Airport.

The British Royal Air Force used the Haifa airport between 1918 and 1948.

List of Operational units that flew from Haifa

No. 6 Squadron RAF detachment (1938–1939) Hawker Hardy No. 30 Squadron RAF detachment (1940) Bristol Blenheim No. 80 Squadron RAF (1941) Hawker Hurricane I No. 112 Squadron RAF detachment (1941) Curtiss Tomahawk I No. 142 Squadron RAF detachment (1918) Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 No. 144 Squadron RAF detachment (1919) de Havilland DH.9 No. 208 Squadron RAF detachment (1941) Hawker Audax No. 213 Squadron RAF (1941) Hawker Hurricane I No. 260 Squadron RAF (1941) Hawker Hurricane I No. 261 Squadron RAF (1942) Hawker Hurricane I No. 450 Squadron RAAF (1941) Hawker Hurricane I No. 651 Squadron RAF (1948) Auster AOP6

Israel 20th century The airport reopened for passenger traffic in 1948 with flights operated by Cyprus Airways. This was followed ten years later by Arkia Israel Airlines flights. It was not until 1994, however, that the airport received international status, and at this time, it was planned that the airport would serve flights to destinations across Europe. Less than a year later, the airport was placed for sale. At this time, great interest in the site was shown by the French construction group, Bouygues, as well as British Aerospace.

In 1998, a new terminal was opened.

21st century In 2001, talks over the airport expanding restarted when then Finance Minister, Silvan Shalom called for an 800 million NIS upgrade to turn the airport into one of an international standard.

Since December 2024 the newly established Israeli airline airHaifa, based at Haifa Airport, operates flights to several domestic and international destinations over the Eastern Mediterranean. Further flights to other East Mediterranean destinations are also expected soon.

On Haifa Airport’s first-ever 200 m2 duty-free store was opened. The store opened in a ceremony with Sharon Kedmi, CEO of the Israel Airports Authority, and the co-CEOs of LAYAM — the Teddy Sagi Group company that will operate the store.

The Israel Airports Authority intends to extend the runway to sometime in the 2020s. This will involve extending the runway northwards, across Julius Simon Road, which will then pass in a tunnel underneath the runway.

Airlines and destinations As of December 2025, airport operates scheduled flights to Eilat (Israel), Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece.

Ground transportation Bus and Taxi The airport is served by Egged bus lines 100 and 18/18a connecting the airport with Haifa Bay central bus station, HaMifratz Central railway station and the nearby industrial district.

Rail The closest train stations are HaMifratz Central railway station, Hutzot HaMifratz, and Kiryat Haim.

Bus line 100 (operated by Egged) connects the airport with HaMifratz Central railway station.

Car The airport is located close to Highway 4 (Haifa – Tel Aviv highway) and Highway 22.

A fenced parking lot is available in front of the building, with about 100 parking spaces. Parking is free of charge. Vehicles may be parked on a temporary basis for a few days. Baggage carts are available in the parking lots, free of charge.

Statistics + Statistics for Haifa Airport Year Total passengers Passenger change Total operations Operations change 1999 130,571   2000 137,858 5.6%   2001 120,301 12.7%  2002 127,200 5.7%20,587 2003 93,385 26.6%16,978 17.5% 2004 70,831 24.2%16,225 4.4% 2005 61,334 13.4%13,082 19.4% 2006 52,388 14.6%12,614 3.6% 2007 65,551 25.1%13,531 7.3% 2008 64,809 1.1%13,367 1.2% 2009 50,677 21.8%8,714 34.8% 2010 83,131 64.0%13,602 56.1% 2011 74,244 10.7%12,067 11.3% 2012 78,033 5.1% 12,037 0.2% 2013 81,804 4.8% 15,969 32.7% 2014 102,578 25.4% 21,271 33.2% 2015 110,805 8.0% 18,197 14.5% 2016 119,113 7.5% 17,086 6.1% 2017 140,222 17.7% 19,168 12.2% 2018 87,552 37.6% 16,624 13.3% 2019 92,695 5.9% 17,729 6.6% 2020 77,963 15.9% 21,177 19.4% 2021 80,337 3.0% 25,435 20.1% 2022 69,677 13.3% 24,062 5.4% 2023 61,333 12.0% 19,563 18.7% 2024 26,641 56.7% 11,102 43.3% 2025 282,227 959.4% 22,216 100.1%

See also Transportation in Israel Ben Gurion Airport Ramon Airport List of the busiest airports in Asia List of the busiest airports in the Middle East List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Citations

Bibliography

Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. . Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. .

External links

Accident history for HFA at Aviation Safety Network Haifa Airport aviation weather