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Artificial ‘airport islands’ in Israel’s future as Dutch firm wins bid

In 2002, the Israeli government approved a plan to construct two man-made islands off the country’s shores, designating one for an international airport and one for housing.

By Adi Pick, CTech

Dutch engineering and project management consulting firm Royal HaskoningDHV has won a tender by the Israeli Ministry of Transportation to examine the planning and economic viability of building an artificial island off the coast of Israel to house an airport, a transportation ministry spokesman told Calcalist Tuesday.

RoyalHaskoningDHV is working on the project with Israel-based infrastructure planning company Aviv AMCG, a subsidiary of Matrix IT Ltd. The two companies had already started the assessment approximately two weeks ago, Margalit Mosse Friedberg, Aviv AMCG’s director of the project’s local task force said in a Tuesday interview with Calcalist.

In 2002, the Israeli government approved a plan to construct two artificial islands off the country’s shores, specifying one for an international airport and one for housing.

During a cabinet meeting in January 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced the idea to construct artificial islands in Israel’s territorial waters as a solution for Israel’s finite territory. In a cabinet meeting in July, Netanyahu instructed a team of ministers to advance the plan in order to replace Tel Aviv’s domestic Sde Dov airport.

Royal HaskoningDHV has yet to respond to Calcalist’s request for comment.