Israel’s first new purpose-built gateway, Ramon International Airport (ETM / LLER), comes into official use today, Monday 4 February, with the arrival of the inaugural commercial operation following the official opening last month.
Ramon Airport has officially completed construction and opened its doors as of January 21, 2019. Located about 18 km north of Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat, the new Ramon Airport replaces Eilat Airport in the city centre, which handles domestic flights from Tel Aviv and Haifa, and Ovda Airport, about 40 minutes north, which handles low-cost and charter flights from Europe, in the winter season. The airport is located in the Timna Valley, and aside from its beautiful location, looks set to be one of the most beautiful airports ever seen.
The new Ramon Airport, named after Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first-ever astronaut who died in the 2003 Columbia Disaster, and his son Asaf Ramon, who was killed a few years later in an aircraft accident, is also known as Timna Airport.
The terminal has been designed by leading Israeli architecture firms, Mann Shinar Architects and Moshe Zur Architects, and is set to handle 2 million passengers a year upon opening, expanding to 4 million passengers a year later on.
Ramon Airport has full facilities to cope with large-volume airport operations. It is set to take care of all domestic traffic to Eilat, and the growing number of international low-cost flights from Europe, including airlines such a Ryanair and Wizz, who started flying to Ovda Airport in the 2015-2016 winter season.
The first commercial aircraft to land at Eilat Ramon will be an Israir ATR from Tel Aviv on flight 6H447 at 18:45.
