NYTA

Walking down the "hill" towards the gate area after passport control yesterday I noticed a bunch of earthmovers and dump trucks outside. Is this the beginning of the construction of the "A" gates/ramp area?

On a separate note, I was surprised to see shakshuka for breakfast in the LY lounge. Maybe I had missed it before, but I didn't remember them having any hot items in the past. I was also initially pleasantly surprised to see what appeared to be a pitcher of real orange juice vs. the "Prigat" they usually serve but upon tasting it I realized it was just a pitcher of Prigat.

LatusElAl

I think that would be the "E" gates/ramp, since "D" is right next to it. "A" would be on the other side.

joshwex90

How do you define "real" orange juice?
While granted the only thing I like more than Tropicana is Pomeranz orange juice (only available in Israel, though hard to get) - Prigat and Primor are pretty good (for those who, unlike me, like pulp). Unless it wasn't the Prigat OJ; rather the Prigat orange "drink?"

Wouldn't A be just to the right when heading from passport control towards the gates? (If/when they're built)

NYTA

This seemed to be either highly diluted OJ or the Prigat "orange drink". I do think it is the A gates since as you come into the terminal area with the fountain, aren't the B gates on the right and D gates on the left? This would be to the right of the B gates.

LatusElAl

The D gates are on the right when walking down the ramp from passport control toward the duty free area. Hence, from that perspective, the right of the D gates would/will be the E gates.

gordo6

A gates will be the last to be constructed. Note that the space currently available (between the games and electronics stores) is meant for the E concourse.

When the A concourse will be built, the JR duty free shop will have to be split to 2 in order to allow it to be connected to the main building, and that's why E is built before...

ELAL

Was mentioned in YNET that the E gates are now being constructed.

entropy

schut? (fresh squeezed)..

oranges, squeezed, the resulting juice is real orange juice.

that bottled garbage is awful, including prigat and tropicana.

And I saw the new gates earthworks the other day and it certainly looks like they are pushing around dirt in the general area of what will become the E gates.

ELY001

Anyone know if the gates in the new concourse will be able to accomodate A380's into TLV?

entropy

why would they bother?

UA won't be flying them
DL won't be flying them
AA won't be flying them

unless LY has a more of a death wish than they seem to they won't be flying them either.
(and it goes without saying that downgauging EU carriers aren't in play either)

ELY001

Just because today there may not be any airlines flying regularly to TLV that would deploy an A380 on the route does not mean that will be the case in the future nor does it mean TLV should not be A380 ready.

TLV is rapidly expanding and the geo-political situation in the middle east is changing as well. Saudi Arabia and Israel are mending their public relations and actually have good relations behind the scenes. Who is to say that EL AL won't be able to overfly Saudi Arabia to the Far East in the future thereby enabling TLV to become a true east-west hub? Consequently, TLV should have infrastructure in place to accomodate all a/c types.

Lufthansa routinely flew 744's, A340-600's, and even the 748 to TLV. Perhaps if TLV was A380 ready they would fly the A380 there on occasion.

As far as EL AL and the A380 are concerned, that's your opinion and you are certainly entitled to it. We've debated it on here before and I still believe it would be a good replacement for the aging 744's for the reasons I mentioned in other threads.

joshwex90

I highly doubt that any gate will be A380-ready, and I too see no need for them.

Considering none of the major players will be flying them (either at all or to Israel) and the big A380 airlines don't fly to TLV, nor will they in the foreseeable future (EK, QF, SQ, etc.), I see no reason for them to accommodate.

As it is, NY Times: A380 is a failure - FlyerTalk (Travel News)

ELY001

It's too early to make that sort of judgment. The first decade or so after the original 747 was released many were also calling it a flop. Orders dropped off and airlines that had them in service were selling them off because of the huge spike in oil and global stagflation of the 1970's. A parallell situation is occurring with the A380 and the global economy. Fact is that over the long term the volume of air travel will only increase and most carriers that fly the A380, such as Emirates, Qantas, Korean Air, and Lufthansa are happy with them.

It's too soon to cast the A380 off, especially when globally respected regional carriers such as Emirates are placing massive orders for them:
http://www.airbus.com/presscentre/pr...itional-a380s/

If Israel is to become truly a global center, then it needs infrastructure for it; including having Ben Gurion Airport be A380 ready even though the need may not be there in the short or even medium term.

joshwex90

I suggest you read both the article and the posts in the thread.

ELY001

I did read the article when it first came out and some of the posts in that thread. The article does not disprove my points. I suggest you re-read my points and the article.

To make it easier, my points are as follows:

1. It's too early to call the A380 a flop in light of the huge Emirates order and a similar historical parallel which occured with the Boeing 747 in the years soon after it came out.

2. Ben Gurion Airport should be A380 ready regardless of whether you can forsee any airlines flying the A380 to Israel in the near, or even middle term.

Oh, and the opinions of a New York Times writer about the A380's success is not dispositive of whether the A380 is or will actually be successful.