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 Sde Dov Airport mostly handled domestic flights within Israel, as well as general aviation activity and limited international flights, mostly to nearby Cyprus. The airport had two terminals. The IAF took up about 40% of overall movements (take-offs and landings), and used the airport as a base for some of its operations, as well as a convenient hub for military and government passenger traffic. Due to its location in the centre of Israel, air-force and civilian pilots alike crossed the airspace controlled by Sde Dov's air traffic control tower from north to south and vice versa in order to reach their destination, without landing at Sde Dov. This significantly increased the air traffic density above and around the airport, and efforts were made to keep "crossing traffic" away from the approach and departure patterns in order to minimise their effect on air traffic safety at Sde Dov. The airport had seven check-in desks and 45 aircraft stands. The former airport site after closure In early 2020 the Israeli Defense Ministry completed demolition of the old airport structures ahead of redevelopment. The former tower was left standing and will remain as a historic preserved building. Per plans approved in 2020, the site is to become host to 16,000 housing units, 35 high rise office towers and of hotels. As the former Eilat Airport also shut down in 2019, Israel has the opportunity to redevelop two centrally located former airport sites in growing cities going into the 2020s. Criticizing the plans for redevelopment as overly focused on luxury apartments, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz called the planned housing "premium homes that only Israel's landed gentry can buy". Airlines and destinations As of July 2019, the airport no longer serves any traffic. Prior to its closure, both Arkia and Israir Airlines operated scheduled services out of the airport. The airport primarily served domestic flights to Haifa Airport and Eilat Airport. See also Meigs Field – a centrally located airport in Chicago whose closure was likewise controversial Eilat Airport – closed