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Haifa International Airport, also known as Uri Michaeli Haifa Airport, sits on the northern Israeli coast close to the Port of Haifa and the Israel Shipyards, making it the country's oldest international aerodrome. Today it handles scheduled and charter services alongside general aviation and some military use, all from a single short runway that gives the field a distinctive character for visiting pilots.
Haifa International Airport (ICAO: LLHA), also known as Uri Michaeli Haifa International Airport, is operated by the Israel Airports Authority and lies to the east of the city of Haifa, Israel. It holds the distinction of being Israel's oldest international airport and is the country's third-busiest by passenger traffic, handling scheduled and charter airline services, general aviation, and some military flying. For a simulator pilot, the field's compact single-runway layout, coastal setting, and long aviation heritage stretching back to the British Mandate period make it a rewarding short-hop destination.
The airport lies in the Haifa District of Israel, close to the Port of Haifa and the Israel Shipyards, to the east of the city and near the coast of the Gulf of Haifa. It is a customs-designated field, reflecting its international status.
Haifa has a single physical runway aligned 16/34, both directions surfaced in hard standing and lit. Runway 16 is 4054 ft long, while runway 34 is listed at 3828 ft. Field elevation is 20 ft.
Pilots should contact Haifa Tower, which provides ATIS on 135.4 MHz, with tower services on a primary frequency of 133 MHz and a secondary frequency of 127.8 MHz. The airport has no ILS approach.
The airport's proximity to the Port of Haifa and the Israel Shipyards on the coast east of the city provides a readily identifiable visual reference for pilots approaching from the sea or along the coastline.
Haifa Airport was established by the British Mandate authorities in 1934 as its first international airport, on the site of RAF Haifa, which had originally served the British Army. RAF Haifa already had passenger services operated by Imperial Airways to Alexandria from 1931 and to Baghdad from 1932. Misr Airwork began services to Beirut and Cyprus in 1936, joined the following year by Palestine Airways and by Ala Littoria's services to Brindisi and Trieste via Athens; by 1938 a third of all flights into Mandatory Palestine landed at Haifa. Civil flying ceased in 1940 with the outbreak of the Second World War, during which the airfield served as RAF Haifa, hosting numerous RAF squadrons including No. 80, No. 213, No. 260 and No. 261 Squadrons flying Hawker Hurricanes, among many other detachments dating back to 1918. The RAF station closed in 1948, after which the airport reopened for civil passenger traffic, initially with Cyprus Airways services, followed a decade later by Arkia Israel Airlines. The airport did not gain international status until 1994, and a new terminal opened in 1998. Proposals to expand the airport to full international standard were raised again in 2001 by then Finance Minister Silvan Shalom. The airport is named after Uri Michaeli, one of the pioneers of Jewish aviation and a founder of aviation in Israel.
Haifa Airport continues to handle scheduled and charter flights alongside general aviation and some military usage. Since December 2024 the airline airHaifa, based at the field, has operated flights to destinations including Athens, Eilat, Larnaca and Paphos, with seasonal services to Heraklion, Karpathos, Rhodes, Mykonos and Sofia. The Israel Airports Authority has stated an intention to extend the runway to around 1,634 metres (5,361 ft) during the 2020s by building the extension northward across Julius Simon Road, which would then pass beneath the runway in a tunnel.
