Yasser Arafat International Airport
Updates
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March 10, 2007
JumpStart Begins Work at Yasser Arafat International Airport
Located in the far south of the Gaza Strip, Yasser Arafat International Airport (YAIA) opened in November 1998 and served as the only Palestinian-controlled air link with the outside world until it was shut down in late 2000 by the Israeli Defense Force.
With an operating capacity of 700,000 passengers per year, more than $110 million dollars was invested in the construction and equipping of the YAIA, yet it is currently sitting in ruins with the remnants of most buildings buried under enormous masses of rubble and debris.
In December 2001 the radar station and runway had been totally destroyed by Israeli military forces. Continuous demolitions by the Israeli Defense Force and looting by local residents desperate for scrap material, has obliterated nearly all facilities.
YAIA runway and control systems were destroyed in 2001
JumpStart International is initiating the process of repairing YAIA by removing the debris from inside the buildings and outside areas of the airport. An enormous effort has begun with clean up and salvage crews working to clear the site and unearth the remaining structures. The initial clearance phase of the project, lasting 2 months will generate approximately 1,560 working days for local laborers.
Additional phases will attempt to repair the damaged parts of YAIA's runway and coordinate the work of other international participants in the rebuilding process.
JumpStart workers clearing debris at the airport site 
Having the airport operational again will allow direct exporting and importing of commercial goods at world market prices as well as facilitating arrival and delivery of humanitarian relief and emergency supplies to the needy.
JumpStart aims to begin the process of restoring the airport to serve as a symbol of Palestine's solid achievements and its unlimited future potential with a major gateway to and from the country.
Additional Information:
Posted at 09:01 am -
June 01, 2007
Airport Clean Up Project Completed
JumpStart International has completed the debris clearance project at Yasser Arafat International Airport.
Work crews were employed for 12 weeks as part of JumpStart’s employment generation program. In an effort to raise interest in the rehabilitation of Gaza’s only commercial airport, workers began clearing hundreds of tons of debris from inside the damaged terminal buildings.
The above pictures show the state of the interior buildings when work began
Interior buildings after clean up was completed
Surrounding outside areas were also cleaned of massive amounts of garbage and debris.
Outside areas above show the amount of debris in the beginning stages of the project, while those below show the same areas after completion of project.
JumpStart International’s airport clean up project created over 2000 days of employment for more than eighty unemployed residents of the Gaza Strip at an average daily cost of $15.55.Posted at 09:16 am
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Contact:
JumpStart International
Suite 216