Eilat’s new airport

Work is progressing fast in order for a new airport near Eilat, called Ramon and close to Israel’s southern port and major holiday centre, to be operational by 2017.

In the meantime airlines are being financially persuaded to use Ovda, a military base, for the time being.  Ovda is 60km from Eilat and Ramon, purpose-built, it is just 18km along the major A90 road.  New carriers due to start include Monarch (see BTN  17 August) Ryanair and Wizz.  Once Ramon is operational the current Eilat Airport, only suitable for short range flights, will be closed and the site redeveloped as part of the revitalised Eilat project.

Business Travel News was invited to see the new airport in the construction stage.  It actually sits on the Jordan border, and with a runway length of 3.6km will double as a diversion facility for Ben Gurion (TLV) if that airport would need to close for some reason.  The terminal will include all the latest security innovations. 

Ramon Airport is named after Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut, killed on the fatal Columbia mission 1 February 2003, and his son Assaf, who also died in an aeroplane accident in 2009, his F16 fighter crashing during a training exercise.  He was 21. www.iaa.gov.il

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Barry Graham, Washington, DC

It's been such a long time that I don't know if it's even still in use but my favorite airport is the original Eilat airport, you can walk to your hotel from there, as I did on a couple of occasions (in my single days).