Published on : Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Budget domestic carrier Arkia made the first scheduled landing, with Flight 883 touching down on the 3,600 meter-long runway of the airport. The first test flight landed back on September 5, 2017. Two years postponed, at present the facility is slated to be hosted in March 2019.
Situated 18 kms north of Eilat in the Timna Valley, Ramon Airport, will restore two regional airports. The inner city J. Hozman Airport with its short runway is at present utilized by propeller planes flying within Israel, as commercial jets from Europe and Russia land at the IAF’s Ovda air base 60 kms north of the city.
The airport has been named in reminiscence of Ilan Ramon, the first astronaut of Israel, who perished in the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, and his son Assaf Ramon who died six years later when his F-16 fighter jet gone down.
On Monday’s inaugural flight, passengers onboard were transportation minister Israel Katz and Israel Airports Authority officials. They joined Ilan Ramon’s widow Rona and family in inaugurating the airport.
“The goal is to strengthen the city of Eilat, and make Israelis prefer Eilat over other places abroad,” Katz said, referring to ever-growing number of citizens who prefer to holiday abroad. Last year, almost one in two vacationing Israelis left the country for a vacation.
“I am convinced that many Israelis will prefer to fly to Eilat as an alternative to other places,” Katz added.
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