The Israeli air force on 25 August transferred its Boeing 707 tanker/transport and Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transport fleets from a facility adjacent to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport to a newly built part of Nevatim air base in southern Israel.
Part of an initiative to ease pressure on the airspace around the civilian airport, the move will also provide access to Nevatim's 3,990m (13,100ft) runway, the longest in the Middle East. "We will operate in a totally new environment," says one air force source.
The air force's tanker and transport assets will be joined at the expanded Nevatim site next year by its modified Gulfstream G550 special mission aircraft and Israel Aerospace Industries Seascan maritime patrol aircraft, as the service will formally close its air base number 27 near Ben Gurion.
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Source: Flight International
