The first airplane - an Arkia flight from Tel Aviv - landed at Ramon Airport in Eilat, named after late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and his son, Assaf Ramon. Minister of Transport and Intelligence Yisrael Katz and Rona Ramon, Ilan Ramon's widow, inaugurated the airport, constructed at a cost of NIS 1.8 billion and designed to serve two million passengers a year.
The airport will be finally opened for operations in April 2019. Rona Ramon said, "All the airports in the world that we know about were named after people who made significant breakthroughs, distinguished leaders, and leaders who changed history. This honor has now also been granted to my loved ones."
The 875-acre airport is located a 30-minute drive away from Eilat. It will be used for both international and internal flights and will be Israel's second largest airport after Ben Gurion Airport. The terminal covers 35,000 square meters, including a 3,320-square meter duty free area.
The airport will replace the smaller Eilat airport in the city center for domestic flights and Ovda airport in the Negev for international flights.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 17, 2018
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