Be'er Sheva Airfield
{{Infobox airport
| name = Be'er Sheva Airfield
| nativename = {{lang|he|שדה תימן}}
| nativename-a =
| nativename-r =
| image = Mg-extra300l-9.jpg
| image-width = 250
| caption =
| IATA = BEV
| ICAO = LLBS
| type = Public
| owner =
| operator = Ayit Aviation
| city-served =
| location = Beersheba
| elevation-f = 656
| elevation-m = 200
| coordinates = {{Coord|31|17|13|N|34|43|22|E|type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| website =
| metric-elev =
| metric-rwy =
| r1-number = 14/32
| r1-length-f = 3,384
| r1-length-m = 1,031
| r1-surface = Asphalt
| stat-year =
| stat1-header =
| stat1-data =
| stat2-header =
| stat2-data =
| footnotes =
}}
Be'er Sheva Airfield ({{langx|he|שְׂדֵה תֵּימָן}}), also known as the Teyman Airfield {{Airport codes|BEV|LLBS}} is an Israeli airfield located near Beersheba. The airfield is mainly used for flight training, general aviation activity, gliding and skydiving operations. The main operator of the airfield is Ayit Aviation, owned by Captain Eli Peretz, who has managed the airfield for the last 25 years.
History
= British Mandate=
The Sde Teyman strip was built during early WW2, for the use of the RAF to aid in the western desert campaign.
= State of Israel =
During the Suez Crisis the airstrip was converted for the IAF Mustang squadron.
As of 1958, Arkia started to have direct flights between Be'er Sheva and Eilat using DC3 planes.[http://jpress.org.il/Olive/APA/NLI_Heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?parm=0X0iSIa1mwnoY0%2B8PVVDplg0NhPf6h%2BpI6RLHlIR1G4s%2Btu6GiJtlw%2BPLJT2RCNEYw%3D%3D&mode=image&href=AHR%2f1958%2f09%2f09&page=4&rtl=true על המשמר, 9 ספטמבר 1958] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20230529200623/https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/?olive_path=%2FOlive%2FAPA%2FNLI_Heb%2FSharedView%2EArticle%2Easpx&olive_query=parm%3D0X0iSIa1mwnoY0%252B8PVVDplg0NhPf6h%252BpI6RLHlIR1G4s%252Btu6GiJtlw%252BPLJT2RCNEYw%253D%253D%26mode%3Dimage%26href%3DAHR%252f1958%252f09%252f09%26page%3D4%26rtl%3Dtrue Archived copy]) The airfield was not well suited for commercial planes and due to dust and poor construction Arkia stopped the flights in 1960.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/ahr/1961/12/07/01/page/3|title=על המשמר | עמוד 3 | 7 דצמבר 1961 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית|website=www.nli.org.il}} In 1964, after covering the airstrip with a special chemical coating, Arkia was able to start flying again.
In 1974 Arkia started to use the Islander planes{{Cite web|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1974/08/25/01/page/9|title=דבר | עמוד 9 | 25 אוגוסט 1974 | אוסף העיתונות | הספרייה הלאומית|website=www.nli.org.il}} and added the Neve Zohar as a destination.
In 2001, the Israeli transportation agency declared that the airstrip would be upgraded and maintained. The maintenance started in 2003 and the airstrip was transferred to Ayit Aviation and Tourism.{{Cite web |title=שידרוג מנחת שדה תימן יחל בשבוע הבא |url=https://www.port2port.co.il/article/%D7%94%D7%95%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%94-%D7%90%D7%95%D7%95%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA/%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%93%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%92-%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%94-%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%95%D7%A2-%D7%94%D7%91%D7%90/ |website=port2port.co.il}}
In 2023 the military base was partially converted into the Sde Teiman detention camp.
File:Hardened_Aircraft_Shelter_Sde_Teman_006.jpg|RAF built Hardened aircraft shelter
File:DATAK2.jpg|RAF British built hardened aircraft shelter
File:Sde_Teiman3.jpg|Training plane in Sde Tayman
References
{{Portalbar|Israel|Aviation}}
{{Israeli Airports}}
{{Beersheba}}
{{authority control}}