Eilat’s new Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport officially opened on Monday at Timna, 11 miles (18 kilometres) north of the Red Sea resort.
At a cost of £360 million, and an annual capacity of 4.5 million passengers, it is the first major international airport to be opened since Israel’s independence.
Named for the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died on the fatal Columbia space mission and his son Asaf, a fighter pilot who died in a training accident, the ceremonial inauguration of the airport was brought forward to last summer, so that Ilan Ramon’s widow Rona could be present. She has since died of cancer.
The airport replaces the Ovda air base 40 miles north of Eilat, where international flights currently land, and Eilat Airport in the city centre, where domestic flights arrive, thus reducing noise pollution and releasing land for development.
Until March, the new airport will be used for domestic flights only.
On Monday morning Arkia and Israir flights from Tel Aviv were the first to touch down, followed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane for the opening ceremony.
“This is another stage in our vision of building the Negev and Arava,” he said. “70 years after the Israeli flag was raised above Eilat, we are making it more accessible to the rest of Israel and overseas.
“Eilat already frequently features in international tourist ratings and now it will become even more prosperous.”
The airport will as an emergency landing site for flights unable to touch down at Ben Gurion Airport. These are currently diverted to Jordan, Cyprus and Greece.
Jordan has protested that the airport is a violation of international law and breach of its sovereignty due to its proximity to the border.
But sources in Israel’s tourist industry believe Jordan is concerned that Ramon Airport will take custom away from nearby Aqaba international airport.
Only Wizz Air flies directly from London to Eilat, but British Airways and easyJet have reported expressed interest starting flights once the new airport is operating.
