Int'l flights at Israel's Haifa Airport resume after 4-year hiatus

International flights at Haifa Airport in northern Israel resumed on Thursday after a four-year hiatus, Israel's Ministry of Transport and Road Safety said. Three flights of the Malta-based airline Universal Air carried passengers from the airport to Cyprus, two of them to the city of Larnaca and the other to Paphos. Most international flights to and from Israel take place at the central Ben Gurion Airport, alongside tourist flights to the southern Ramon Airport outside the Red Sea resort city of Eilat. As the short runway at Haifa Airport, which is about 1,300 meters long, only allows the operation of small planes and short-haul flights that reach close destinations such as Cyprus and the Greek islands, the number of international flights decreased over the years until the service was suspended in 2019. Plans to extend the runway have been considered several times in recent years, but they have proven difficult to carry out due to the many uses along the Mediterranean coastal strip of Haifa Bay, which is home to leading civilian seaports, an Israeli Navy seaport, a shipyard, and more, the ministry explained.<br/>