Ramon Airport was built in 5 years in the Negev Desert, at the mouth of the Arava, about 20 km from Eilat, near the village of Beer Ora. It has been operating since March 2019.
This impressive modern airport, which meets international quality standards, was named after two heroes of Israel - cosmonaut Ilan Ramon and his son, military pilot Asaf.
At the moment, the airport has only one runway with a length of 3600 meters. This length of the runway makes it possible to serve large aircraft such as the Jumbo Jet.
In a few years, the Israeli authorities plan to connect the new Ramon Airport with Eilat using a tram line and a railway line. The tram will run to the border point with Egypt. The train will take you only to the center of Eilat. In the future, a bus station and a railway station will be built near the airport.
Airport history
Plans for the construction of a new airport in southern Israel have been developed for 15 years. The decision on the need for a new air hub near Eilat was made for strategic reasons - it was to become an alternative to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. In the event of a fire or other emergency at Ben Gurion Airport, airlines that previously would have simply canceled their flights to Israel due to inability to land are now able to do their job by partnering with another local airport.
Also, the Israeli authorities assure that the Ramon airport will be able to fully operate in severe weather conditions. But until recently, planes that found it difficult to land at Ben Gurion Airport were forced to land in Cyprus.
The cost of building a new airport in Eilat is estimated at 1.7 billion shekels, which were allocated by the country's Airports Authority.
Due to the opening of Ramon Airport, the old air terminal in Eilat, which has served flights since 1949, is closed. Such emergency measures will allow to expand the northern areas of the city, promising in terms of tourism. To increase the number of tourists in Israel, the country's authorities decided to grant exemption from service charges to all airlines that operate at Ramon Airport for the next three years after the opening of these air gates. The purpose of this decision was to support the further development of the city of Eilat and popularize this resort among the Israelis. The region of southern Israel is expected to have 300% more tourists than before.
Security
Jordan has unexpectedly opposed the construction of a new airport in Eilat. Its authorities expressed dissatisfaction with the proximity of the new air hub to the King Hussein airport in Aqaba, although the Ramon airport is geographically located farther from the Jordanian air station than the old Eilat airport, which, we recall, has already been closed.
Due to the airport's proximity to the Jordanian border, the Israeli authorities have built a 4 km long wall on their own territory, which blocks the new airport from observers on the other side of the border. It is also planned to build a "smart wall" similar to the one on the border with Egypt. Its length will be 34 km.
In addition, the entire airport complex will be surrounded by a 14 km long fence.
Infrastructure
The area of the airport is 350 hectares. The airport complex consists of a control tower with a height of 47 meters with modern equipment and a spacious terminal, which at the first stage of the airport's operation will serve more than 2 million passengers per year, and after the expansion of the building will increase its capacity to 4.5 million passengers per year. The airport has an airplane parking area, technical areas, duty-free shops, a new road complex and parking spaces for passenger-owned vehicles.
The spacious and clean Ramon Terminal, with its huge glass windows overlooking the harsh desert, can usefully spend several hours waiting for your departure. There are several duty free shops offering a wide variety of goods such as alcohol, tobacco, perfumery, cosmetics, sweets, electronics, mobile phones, books, souvenirs and toys. The number of duty free shops will increase every year. Also, there is only one catering point at the airport so far - the Ilan’s restaurant.
How to get to / from the airport
The pressing question that worries all tourists without exception arriving at Ramon airport is how to get to the city. This can be done by taxi, which will go to the city along Highway 90 and take its passengers to the hotel located in the center of Eilat in 10-15 minutes. The fare will be around 85-90 shekels.
On the same road you can get to Eilat by a rented car.
Ramon Airport is also connected to the city bus station by bus service. Bus # 30 leaves for the city every half hour. Passengers will be on the spot in 30 minutes. The fare will cost 4, 2 shekels.
