Yasser Arafat International Airport
Encyclopedia : Y : YA : YAS : Yasser Arafat International Airport
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|-! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Yasser Arafat International Airport
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|-!colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m
|-!align="left" valign="top"|01/19 |valign="top" align="right"|10,105 |valign="top" align="right"|3,080 |valign="top"|Paved
Yasser Arafat International Airport (Arabic: ; transliterated: Matar Yasir 'Arafat ad-Dowaly) , formerly Gaza International Airport, is located in the Gaza Strip, in Rafah close to the Egyptian border. It opened in 1998 and closed in 2001 after being severely damaged by Israeli military forces.
The airport was built with funding from Japan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Germany and designed by Moroccan architects and engineers funded by Morocco's King Hassan II. The total cost was $86 million. After a year of construction, it opened on 24 November, 1998; attendees at the opening ceremony included Yasser Arafat and former US President Bill Clinton. At the time, the opening of the airport was described as evidence of progress toward Palestinian statehood.Palestinians cheer airport as first step to statehood, Associated Press, November 25, 1998.
The airport has one one runway of 3080 m x 60 m. The terminal is decorated with Moroccan tile and has state-of-the-art equipment. It is owned and operated by the Palestinian Authority, and serves as the home airport for Palestinian Airlines.
The radar station and control tower were destroyed by Israel Defense Forces aircraft in 2001 after the start of the Al-Aqsa intifada, and bulldozers cut the runway apart in January 2002. [Grounded in Gaza, but hoping to fly again], MSNBC, May 19 2005, Retrieved on July 2nd 2006 [Years of delays at Gaza airport], BBC, April 15 2005, Retrieved on July 2nd 2006 The disabling of the airport was motivated by Israeli concerns that they could not control what the Palestinian Authority transported in or out of the Gaza Strip, and to punish Arafat's government for their alleged support of terrorism.Mitch Potter, Gaza yearns to fly again, The Toronto Star, January 23, 2005.
The airport is twinned with Mohammed V International Airport, in Casablanca, Morocco.
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