The Department is responsible for the loading and offloading of passenger aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport, using a wide variety of means of conveyance in accordance with the size and type of the aircraft.

The Department employs scores of personnel, working 24 hours a day, in order to serve the passengers and the airlines in accordance with the flight schedule.

The activities of the department include:

         Offloading of passenger aircraft and transporting the baggage to the Arrivals Hall.

         Offloading and transporting of cargo to the cargo terminal and to the mail terminal.

         Participation in the activities of the airport during an aviation emergency event.

The Coordination Center is the operational heart of the Airport. The Center provides services in a wide range of fields:

         Planning of seasonal, monthly and daily flight schedules.

         Publication of relevant, updated information on flight schedules, including: Final times for arrivals and departures, delays, landings etc.

         The national center for the publication of international and domestic aviation notifications (NOTAM).

         International Aeronautical Information Service(AIS)

         Flight traffic regulation Center (FMP – Flow Management Position) of the European Control Organization, Eurocontrol.

         National Search and Rescue Center.

         Management of the operational traffic at the Airport.

         Supervision of the ongoing activities at the aircraft parking apron and on the taxiways.

The Coordination Center is at your disposal, airlines and operational units at the airport, in any matter arising with respect to the operation of a flight, while it is on the ground.

Ben Gurion Airport’s Firefighting and Rescue Department provides responses to a wide range of safety related matters. The Department’s Rescue Crews obtain their skills through training and drills, subject to the directives of the ICAO – the international aviation organization.

The department's services include:

         The well-being of the passengers in the Terminal’s Halls.

          Assistance to aircraft in aviation emergency situations.

         Extinguishing of fires within the boundaries of the Airport.

          Rescue of people trapped in elevators.

          Rescue of victims of road accidents.

          Increasing the fire safety awareness amongst the Airport employees.

The Navigation Department  is responsible for the systems used by the flight controllers and the pilots, for purposes of location, identification, control, separation of aircraft in the air and, from ground obstacles, redirecting from areas of bad weather and identification of seasonal migration of birds.

The Department has two departments: Navigation and Radar, and it employs 20 engineers and practical engineers with expertise in specific electronic fields.

The systems serving the flight controllers

§         Radio system for communications with aircraft.

§         Radar systems providing radar data such as: Three dimensional location of the aircraft, call sign and electronic distress signals.

§          Automatic systems for radar data processing. The systems collate the data, process it, display the weighting of the data and automatically alert of excessive proximity of aircraft to each other or of excessive proximity of aircraft to ground obstacles.

§         Directional finding systems displaying the angle location of the aircraft.

§         Meteorological display system used for decision making, regarding the method of operation of the Airport in accordance with weather conditions, for example: Selecting a runway based on wind strength.

Systems serving pilots:

The electronic navigation systems covering the country’s air space, and the access corridors to Israel. These systems enable flight in a pre-defined corridor in order to facilitate safe flight along known routes without the danger of aviation collisions or penetration into restricted areas.

Instrument Landing Systems. These systems facilitate landing in bad weather conditions when visibility is almost zero. The systems guide the aircraft to landing, in a such a manner that it will touch down at the edge of the runway, even if the pilot does not have visual contact with the runway.

The baggage sorting system is a central component in the flow of passengers and their baggage through the Airport. Much resources have been invested in this system, including: The implementation of the most modern systems and technologies , and developing the manpower involved, thus improving the service provided to airlines and passengers alike.

The services of the department include:

         Receiving outgoing passengers’ baggage at the check-in counter and conveyance of the baggage to the central automatic sorting system.

         Handling of baggage arriving from pre-flight branches.

         Sorting of baggage by flight destinations and their transfer to the aircraft.

         Receiving inbound passengers’ baggage, offloading onto the conveyors efficiently and rapidly, while ensuring the integrity of the baggage.

The BGN Aeronautical Information Service Office is situated at the Coordination Center and employs qualified briefing officers holding licenses from the Civil Aviation Administration. The procedures of the AIS Office are derived from the regulations of the international aviation organization – ICAO.

The activities of the Office include:

         Briefing of pilots on international flights.

         Inspection and distribution of flight plans of departing aircraft .

         The State of Israel national center for the publication of international and domestic aviation notifications (NOTAM).

         Operating an up-to-date international and commercial library of publications (AIP).

The unit operates 24 hours a day, in order to reduce the number of birds in the runway area, thereby reducing the incidence of birds colliding with aircraft. The unit employs professional workers with ornithological, biological and agricultural backgrounds. The Unit is a member of international organizations for the prevention of bird nuisances at airports and employs the most advanced work methods in the world.

The activities of the Unit includes:

         The reduction of the incidence of collisions of birds with aircraft.

         Investigations of such collisions for research purposes.

         Supervision of agriculture within the boundaries of the airport.

         Runway inspection before and after takeoffs.

         Tracking the activities of birds at the Airport.

         Increasing the awareness of flight safety.