Before its partition and the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, Palestine, under British mandate, with both its Arab and Jewish populations had the most advanced economy, possibly the most educated population, and the highest potential for development in the Middle East.Airports in Palestine, including Gaza and Lydda were important stops in the prestigious network of Imperial Airways. Palestine Airways, founded in July 1937 by Pinhas Rutenberg, was second only to Egypt's Misrair as the oldest airline in the region and was based in Haifa. It started its operations with flights between Haifa and Lydda using 2 Shorts S.16 Scion 2 planes. As tensions between the Arab and Jewish communities increased in the late thirties, the airline's base was transferred to a new airfield in Tel-Aviv (the airstrip is currently known as Sde Dov Airport) in October 1938. The fleet was increased by a Short S.22 Scion and a De Havilland DH-89 Rapide in 1938. The Rapide performed a twice daily rotation between Tel-Aviv and Haifa, a route expanded to Beirut a few weeks later. Palestine Airways ceased its operations in August 1940 and its aircraft were taken-over by the Royal Air Force during the second world war. Palestine Airways' shares were held by Jewish entrepreneurs, its Hebrew title was "Netivei Avir Eretz Yisrael" (Air Lines of the Land of Israel) while its title in Arabic reads "Turuq Al Jawwiya Bi Filistin" (The Airline Company in Palestine), a discrepancy that was lost in the official translation to English.
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