Editing Ben Gurion Airport (section)

===History and development===
The original layout of the airfield as designed by the British in the 1930s included four intersecting {{Convert|800|m|abbr=on}} runways suitable for the [[Reciprocating engine|piston engined]] aircraft of the day. However, none of this original layout is visible nowadays since as usage increased and aircraft types and needs changed over the years various runways on the airport's premises were built and removed.

The main runway (12/30) is the oldest surviving runway in the airport, with the quiet (08/26) and short (03/21) runways having been built in the late 1960s and 1970s. Since very little commercial traffic could operate on the short runway, for approximately forty years, the airport mostly relied on runways 12/30 and 08/26. This presented a problem, however: the fact that these two runways intersect near their western end creates a crisscross pattern between aircraft landing and taking off. This pattern reduces the number of aircraft which can arrive to and depart from the airport and has detrimental safety implications as well.

With passenger traffic projected to increase, plans were drawn in the 1980s and 90s for the extension of runways 03/21 and 08/26 as a means of alleviating some of Ben Gurion's safety and capacity concerns. These plans were approved in 1997 and construction began in 2010. The extension of runway 03/21 allows the airport to operate in an "open V" configuration, allowing for simultaneous landings and take offs on runways 08/26 and 03/21 and thus more than double the number of aircraft movements which can be handled at peak times, while increasing the overall level of air safety in and around the airport. Construction took four years and cost 1 billion NIS (financed from the Israeli Airports Authority budget) and was completed 29 May 2014. It included paving {{Convert|22|km}} of runways and taxiways, using more than 1.5 million tons of asphalt, laying one million meters of runway lighting cables, {{Convert|50000|m}} of high-voltage power lines and 10,000 light fixtures.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-New-Ben-Gurion-airport-runways-inaugurated-1000942781 |title=New Ben Gurion airport runways inaugurated |access-date=29 May 2014|last=Peretz-Zilberman |first=Sapir |date=29 May 2014|publisher=Globes English }}</ref> The construction of several new taxiways between the existing runways and terminals also significantly reduced [[taxiing|taxi]] times at the airport.