The
Palestinian Airlines History Pages
By Wassim Chemaitelli
Palestinian Airlines was founded in July 1994
by the Palestinian Authority with the objective of restoring
air services to the population of the Palestinian Territories
after a hiatus that lasted for almost 3 decades.
I- Historical Background
Before its partition and the first Arab-Israeli
war in 1948, Palestine, under British mandate, with both its Arab
and Jewish populations had the most advanced economy, possibly the
most educated population, and the highest potential for development
in the Middle East. Airports in Palestine, including Gaza and Lydda
were important stops in the prestigious network of Imperial Airways.
Palestine Airways, founded in July 1937 by Pinhas Rutenberg, was second
only to Egypt's Misrair as the oldest airline in the region and was based
in Haifa. It started its operations with flights between Haifa
and Lydda using 2 Shorts S.16 Scion 2 planes. As tensions
between the Arab and Jewish communities increased in the late thirties,
the airline's base was transferred to a new airfield in Tel-Aviv (the
airstrip is currently known as Sde Dov Airport) in October 1938. The fleet
was increased by a Short S.22 Scion and a De Havilland DH-89 Rapide
in 1938. The Rapide performed a twice daily rotation between Tel-Aviv and
Haifa, a route expanded to Beirut a few weeks later. Palestine Airways
ceased its operations in August 1940 and its aircraft were taken-over
by the Royal Air Force during the second world war. Palestine Airways' shares were held by Jewish
entrepreneurs, its Hebrew title was "Netivei Avir Eretz Yisrael" (Air Lines
of the Land of Israel) while its title in Arabic reads "Turuq Al Jawwiya
Bi Filistin" (The Airline Company in Palestine), a discrepancy that was lost
in the official translation to English.
Imperial Airways' Hanno (G-AAUD), a Handley Page HP42 seen near
Samakh by the lake of Tiberias in Galilee in 1931. The airline had just established
a junction there between the Kent seaplanes (which landed on the lake, to
the astonishment of the locals) arriving from Greece and the HP42 service
to India via Iraq and Persia. Copyright Unknown.
Lydda Airport, under construction in 1935. The airport was open
for regular traffic in 1936. Lydda, the town close to the airport was inhabited
by Palestinian Arabs before 1948. Following the creation of the state of
Israel, the airport was taken over by the Israeli authorities, and renamed
Lod Airport. It is currently the site of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International
Airport. Copyright unknown.
Misrair's De Havilland Dragon Rapide, seen in Lydda. Photo: A Himmelreich.
Undated.
Left: Palestine Airways advertisement. Right:
Luggage label, Palestine Airways, 1937, Daniel Kusrow's collection
@Timetableimages.com.
The partition of Palestine and the wars that followed
changed the region's face forever. The state of Israel, created
on the largest area of Palestine, was an intended homeland for Jews.
Strengthened by an efficient and devoted administration, enjoying
strong support from the West and enriched by the influx of immigrants
from all over the world it was rapidly able to evolve towards a modern
economy. While it cultivated its strong ties and affinities with Europe
and the Americas at all levels, this part of Palestine lost its natural
share of the regional market as the result of its continued disputes
with the Arab world. The remaining territories in Palestine fell under
the administration of neighboring Arab countries which retarded economies
by pre-1948 Palestine standards had little to offer.While having to cope with a massive influx of Arab refugees,
these territories did not even enjoy geographical continuity.
To the southwest, a narrow and impoverished semi-desertic enclave
on the eastern edge of Sinai, the Gaza strip, became administered
by the ailing Egyptian monarchy. To the northeast, the landlocked
territories that came to be known as the West Bank (in reference to
the Jordan river), including the old city of Jerusalem, were administered
by the kingdom of Transjordan (known thereafter as the Hashemite Kingdom
of Jordan).
Air Jordan (Left, Postcard from Telco-Sport,Beirut,
late fifties) and its successor Jordan Airways (right, Viscount
seen in Beirut) provided frequent regional services out of Jerusalem's
Kolundia Airport during the fifties and early sixties.
Left: Little is known about Arab Airways, an airline
based in Jerusalem and which advertisments echoed the claims of
the Jordanian administration over the West Bank. Timetable from
Bjorn Larsson's collection @ Timetable Images Website.
After the Arab debacle of the Six Days War, the West Bank
fell under Israeli occupation. Jerusalem's Kolundia Airport (JRS)
has since been known to the Israelis at Atarot Airport, and the featured
postal cover commemorates the first flight operated to JRS by Arkia, the
Israeli domestic airline.
During the fifties and sixties, there were no air
services to Gaza while flights to the West Bank were operated
through Jerusalem's Kolundia Airport (JRS). Regional flights were
flown to JRS by several Arab airlines, most of the traffic being
carried by those registered in Jordan (Arab Airways, Air Jordan,
Jordan Airways, Alia). The Six Days war in 1967 and the occupation
of the territories by the Israeli army ended these flights. Kolundia
airport was taken over by the occupation and is currently known to
the Israelis as Atarot Airport. Since 1967, the airport has mostly
been used for short haul flights servicing the needs of Israeli clients.
As for the Palestinians (a term restricted to the Arab inhabitants of
Palestine after the creation of the state of Israel), whose tragedy secreted
the largest diaspora among the Arabs, they have had to endure for decades
tedious security checks and hardships, whether they flew westbound via
Tel Aviv or had to cross the Allenby bridge and fly via Amman in Jordan.
Striving to reduce the burden on travelers in order to improve the economy
was hence only natural as the Palestinians achieved through arduous negociations
some degree of autonomy in Gaza and small parts of the West Bank in
the mid-nineties.
II-
Difficult Beginnings 1994-2000
The idea of an international airport in the territories
administered by the Palestinian Authority was particularily difficult to
accept by Israeli negociators for both security concerns (fearing that such
airports would become ports of entry for arms and Palestinian militants
living abroad, feeding the hostile movements within the territories), and
symbolic reasons (international airports are usually attributes of independent
states). Israeli approval was achieved only by restricting possible sites
to the Gaza strip and by accepting close and direct Israeli supervision at
all levels of operation. While officially declared as a temporary hub by
the Palestinian Authority, it was obvious that the construction of the Gaza
International Airport (GZA) was the best that could be accomplished before
a comprehensive peace agreement was reached.
Works on GZA started on January 20th 1996. The costs of
building the airport, 75 million USD, were mainly covered by donations
from Japan, the European Union and Morocco. Located on the Palestinian
side of the border with Egypt near Rafah, it had a single runway
that could handle most airliner types including the Boeing 747.
The airport itself was designed to handle up to 700,000 passengers yearly.
Awaiting the official inauguration of GZA,
Palestinian Airlines was cleared to start operating from Port
Said Airport, in Egypt, using an initial fleet of two Fokker
F-50s donated by the Dutch government and a Boeing 727 donated by
Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The airline's first flight, PF141
carried hajj pilgrims to Jeddah on January 10th 1997. During
the hajj season in 1997, 325 pilgrims were carried on seven round
trip flights between Port Said and Jeddah. The airline continued operating
out of Egypt ad-hoc flights and scheduled flights between Al-Arish
(in Sinai, close to the border with Palestine) and Amman until GZA was
inaugurated on November 24th 1998. The airline officially transferred
its base to GZA and started operating scheduled flights from Gaza
on November 27th 1998. Flights were initially launched between Gaza,
Amman and Cairo. Palestinian Airlines registered 64 airliner movements
in December 1998, carrying 1706 passengers.
A Palestinian Airlines Fokker F50, seen in
Luxor, Egypt. Copyright Charles Falk @Airliners.net
Palestinian Airlines continued to develop through
1999. The airline carried 60,446 passengers, out of the 87,036
passengers who traveled through GZA during that year (= 70% of
the total), and registered 1482 airliner movements, with its small
fleet of 3 airliners. It was also in 1999 that the airline joined
international air transport organisations, including the Arab Air
Carriers Organization (AACO) and IATA (member serial number 400).
In 2000, the network included flights to Amman, Istanbul (flights launched
on June 6th, 2000), Larnaca, Cairo, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.
Plans were laid for the modernization of the fleet. Two De Havilland Dash-8s were purchased in order to reinforce
regional frequencies, they were delivered by the summer of the
same year. Two Canadair Regional Jets were ordered and there were
plans for the lease or purchase of 3 Boeing 737s in order to expand
the network towards Athens, Rome, Frankfurt, Paris and London.
In the meantime, an Ilyushin Il62 was leased-in as to respond to
a higher demand for flights to the Gulf. The timetable below (adapted
from GZA's website) probably
coincided with Palestinian Airlines' highest level of operation
during the Summer of 2000. Other airlines flying to GZA at
that time included Russavia, Tarom, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian
and Egyptair.
Day of Operation
|
Flight Number
|
Routing
|
Departure
|
Arrival
|
Equipment
|
Saturday
|
PF 141
|
Gaza-Cairo
|
06:00
|
07:30
|
Fokker F50
|
Saturday
|
PF 142
|
Cairo-Gaza
|
08:30
|
10:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Sunday
|
PF 152
|
Gaza-Amman
|
06:30
|
08:15
|
Fokker F50
|
Sunday
|
PF 153
|
Amman-Gaza
|
09:15
|
11:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Sunday
|
PF 162
|
Gaza-Jeddah
|
05:00
|
07:10
|
Ilyushin Il62
|
Sunday
|
PF 163
|
Jeddah-Gaza
|
08:10
|
10:10
|
Ilyushin Il62
|
Monday
|
PF 141
|
Gaza-Cairo
|
06:00
|
07:30
|
Fokker F50
|
Monday
|
PF 142
|
Cairo-Gaza
|
08:30
|
10:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Monday
|
PF 181
|
Gaza-Istanbul
|
12:00
|
14:30
|
Boeing 727
|
Monday
|
PF 182
|
Istanbul-Gaza
|
15:00
|
17:00
|
Boeing 727
|
Tuesday
|
PF 152
|
Gaza-Amman
|
06:30
|
08:15
|
Fokker F50
|
Tuesday
|
PF 153
|
Amman-Gaza
|
09:15
|
11:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Tuesday
|
PF 110
|
Gaza-Dubai
|
09:00
|
12:45
|
Ilyushin Il62
|
Tuesday
|
PF 110
|
Dubai-Doha
|
13:45
|
14:35
|
Ilyushin Il62
|
Tuesday
|
PF 111
|
Doha-Gaza
|
15:35
|
18:50
|
Ilyushin Il62
|
Wednesday
|
PF 171
|
Gaza-Larnaca
|
04:20
|
05:20
|
Fokker F50
|
Wednesday
|
PF 172
|
Larnaca-Gaza
|
06:25
|
07:25
|
Fokker F50
|
Wednesday
|
PF 161
|
Gaza-Jeddah
|
05:00
|
07:10
|
Boeing 727
|
Wednesday
|
PF 162
|
Jeddah-Gaza
|
08:10
|
10:10
|
Boeing 727
|
Thursday
|
PF 151
|
Gaza-Amman
|
06:30
|
08:15
|
Fokker F50
|
Thursday
|
PF 152
|
Amman-Gaza
|
09:15
|
11:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Thursday
|
PF 141
|
Gaza-Cairo
|
12:00
|
13:30
|
Fokker F50
|
Thursday
|
PF 142
|
Cairo-Gaza
|
14:30
|
16:00
|
Fokker F50
|
Thursday
|
PF 181
|
Gaza-Istanbul
|
05:00
|
07:00
|
Boeing 727
|
Thursday
|
PF 182
|
Istanbul-Gaza
|
08:00
|
10:00
|
Boeing 727
|
Friday
|
PF 100
|
Gaza-Dubai
|
09:00
|
12:45
|
Boeing 727
|
Friday
|
PF 100
|
Dubai-Abu Dhabi
|
13:45
|
14:30
|
Boeing 727
|
Friday
|
PF 101
|
Abu Dhabi-Gaza
|
15:30
|
18:45
|
Boeing 727
|
A new livery was revealed with the delivery
of the Dash-8s. Palestinian Airlines had to sell the De Havilland
Dash-8s in 2004 due to the deteriorating security conditions in Palestine.
Copyright John Kelley @Airliners.net.
The two Canadair Regional Jets ordered by
Palestinian Airlines were never taken up. Above, C-GHUT "Gaza"
stored in Montreal - Dorval for several months. Copyright Henry
Jr Godding @Airliners.net.
II-The Broken Wings 2001-2005
In
the absence of improvement in the situation in the Palestinian
Territories, the Canadair order was cancelled and the Boeing 727
was stored in Amman. The symbolic and ephemerous flights from El-Arish
to Damascus, Syria inaugurated on August 25th 2001 could not conceal
the airline's uncertain future as it had to move its operations back
to Egypt. The tragic events of September 2001 and the wars that followed
did nothing to improve these bleak prospects. On December 12th 2001
GZA was bombed by the Israeli army, which warplanes hit the control
tower. In January 10th 2002, the 60 million USD runway was competely
destroyed by the Israeli army, shattering hopes for the resumption
of flights to the airport in the forseeable future. The feldging Palestinian
flag carrier had to suspend operations between July 2002 and August
2003, resorting to a joint flight agreement with Royal Jordanian Airlines
in order to carry out the flights from El-Arish to Amman in the interim.
On September 2nd 2003, Palestinian Airlines was able to resume thrice-weekly
flights from El Arish to Amman using the Dash-8s while the Fokker F50s
were undergoing repair in the Netherlands. As the situation in Palestine
continued to escalate in 2004, the Dash-8s were sold out, one of the
Fokker F-50s was stored in the Netherlands while the airline's operations
were confined to twice weekly flights between El-Arish and Amman flown
by the last Fokker F50 to remain active in the fleet. These flights,
temporarily suspended on December 12th 2004, were resumed in early February
2005.
Gaza International Airport in early 2002,
deserted by planes and passengers. Photo: BBC.com
Falling short of resurrecting Palestine's long
lost role in the region's air scene, and failing to satisfy the
needs of most travelers to the Palestinian Territories, both Palestinian
Airlines and Gaza International Airport were the most that could
be accomplished by the Palestinian Autonomy during the late nineties
detente. These seemingly modest accomplishments even proved to be to
good to be true in the context of the unresolved conflict over Palestine.
However, pending the long overdue peaceful settlement of the crisis in
the Middle East, and with a potential market as large as the biggest,
and arguably most educated of all Arab diasporas, the flag carrier of Palestine
may not have said its last word.
VI- Fleet List
Registration
|
Aircraft Type
|
Construction Number
|
Previous Registration
|
Status 11-2004
|
SU-YAH
|
Fokker F27-050
|
20123
|
PH-FZJ
|
Active
|
SU-YAI
|
Fokker F27-50
|
20143
|
PH-FZI
|
Stored, Netherlands
|
SU-YAK
|
Boeing 727-230
|
21621
|
TC-AFR
|
Stored, Jordan
|
SU-YAM
|
Dash-8
|
546
|
C-FDHD
|
Sold-out
|
SU-YAN
|
Dash-8
|
549
|
C-GDKL
|
Sold-out
|
IV- Links
The Palestinian
Authority's Page on Air Transport
Palestinian
Airlines Website
Gaza International
Airport
Israeli Air Force for the information on Palestine Airways
Airliners.Net
Arab Air Carriers
Organization
British Broadcasting
Corporation
The Cedarjet Pages:
History of Middle East Airlines - Air Liban (MEA)
The
Syrianair History Pages
Aerotransport.org Database for
airliner regitration
The Timetable Images Website
V- Feedback
Information and memorabilia related to Palestinian
Airlines, Arab Airways and Palestine Airways are scarce. Do not
hesitate to contact me with any
comments and/or suggestions , or if you would like to share any
interesting document with the visitors of this page.
First Uploaded on: November 4th 2004.
Last Updated on: August 8th 2005.
The views and opinions expressed in this page are those of
the author and do not engage Palestinian Airlines in any way.
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