Early history In 1937, the mayor of Tel Aviv,
Israel Rokach, asked the
British mandate authorities for permission to create an airport in Palestine, promising to solve the transportation problem of
Jews during the
Arab revolt of 1936–1939 when travelling from Tel Aviv through Arab territory to the main airport at Lydda, to catch
Palestine Airways flights to
Haifa, was difficult and dangerous. Works began on a plot of land north of the
Yarkon River,
Tel Aviv, and when completed in October 1938, the airport served regular flights to
Haifa, with the option of flights to
Beirut. In 1940, the airport's name was changed to Sde Dov in memory of
Dov Hoz, one of the pioneers of Jewish aviation. Sde Dov was abandoned after
Palestine Airways ceased operations in August 1940, and the site was used as a British Army base until December 1947 when with British permission the runway was reopened by the
Haganah. In the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, the airport served as a base of the
Israeli Air Force. It was a central base, home to 21 aircraft at the time. The first military flight was made in December 1947, when Pinchas Ben Porat flew an
RWD-13 to
Beit Eshel to rescue an injured soldier.
After the war Following the 1948 war, the Arab orchards to the east of Tel Aviv were opened for development, and the military started using the Sde Dov airport on a regular basis. The airport regained its commercial operations, initially serving domestic flights, mostly to single customers, on
Piper Cub aircraft. It later expanded operations to scheduled service on larger aircraft to various parts of Israel. As a result of the land availability, an additional, north–south, runway was built with no opposition. By 1960, land in Tel Aviv became scarce, and the municipality demanded that the airport be relocated northward, so as to allow residential development in its place. However, a committee that investigated the options for such a relocation in 1961 found no feasible site in proximity to Tel Aviv and suggested that flights be moved to Lod airport (now known as Ben Gurion Airport), and that road access from Tel Aviv to
Lod be improved. This option, however, was blocked by the
Israel Defense Forces. The issue remained unresolved until late 2006 when it was announced that the airport would be vacated to make way for residential redevelopment. The plan to close the airport was strongly opposed by the Tel Aviv and Eilat municipalities, and its implementation was postponed numerous times until the airport finally closed on 30 June 2019. By 31 July 2019, a Caterpillar 950M
loader started the first phase of removing the runway and within days the runway was unrecognizable. == The airport prior to closure ==