Kiryat Shmona airport to resume operations for first time since war

The Kiryat Shmona airport will resume operations on Tuesday, following a two-month shut-down due to the outbreak of the war in the north, and the barrage of rockets which landed in the city throughout the conflict.

Operations will resume with two daily round trip flights to Kiryat Shmona, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The flights will be open to the entire population following the Transportation Ministry's decision to install temporary X-ray scanning machines in the Kiryat Shmona airport, in an effort to calm public protests over its policy of barring Arabs from traveling on flights from the north to Tel Aviv.

The Transportation Ministry, acting on instruction from the Shin Bet security service, had decided that Arabs would not be allowed on the flights following a financial dispute that prevented the use of luggage scanning machines in airports in the north.

An investigation by Haaretz revealed in June that there was a policy of allowing Jewish passengers only onto these flights.

Tamir Flights, the company that arranges the flights to Kiryat Shmona, initially decided not to resume flights to the city following thje conflict with the city about the new terminal. The company agreed to resume operations for all passengers, regardless of race or ethnicity, from the new terminal after purchasing the new X-Ray machines.

	Kiryat Shmona airport. (Archives)