Ben Gurion Airport
Ben Gurion AirportFlash 90

After being closed or used for very limited purposes for nearly ten years, Ben Gurion Airport's Terminal One got a new lease on life Sunday. The newly refurbished terminal will be used for low-cost flights to and from Europe.

For decades, Terminal One was the main terminal for all flights into and out of Ben Gurion Airport. In 2004, the Airports Authority opened the more modern Terminal Three, with facilities to serve as many as ten million passengers coming into and leaving Israel each year.

With the signing of the Open Skies agreement with European aviation officials, Israel is set to expand air traffic to and from Europe significantly. Specifically, a number of low-cost carriers are set to begin flying to Israel. With Terminal Three already operating close to capacity, the Airports Authority decided to refurbish Terminal One as the main terminal for these low cost carriers.

The terminal was dedicated by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz. Among the first carriers to use the new terminals will be European carriers Wizz Air, Norwegian Air, and Easy Jet. During the winter months, the Authority said, 55 low cost flights will depart Ben Gurion Airport weekly, nearly all of them from Terminal One.