Ramon International Airport נמל התעופה רמון مطار رامون |
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Under construction | ||||||||||
Operator | Israel Airports Authority | ||||||||||
Serves | Eilat, Israel | ||||||||||
Location | Southern District, Israel | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 29°43′38″N 34°59′54″E / 29.72722°N 34.99833°ECoordinates: 29°43′38″N 34°59′54″E / 29.72722°N 34.99833°E | ||||||||||
Website | iaa |
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Map | |||||||||||
Location within Israel | |||||||||||
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Eilat Ilan and Assaf Ramon International Airport (Hebrew: נמל התעופה הבינלאומי אילת/אילן ואסף רמון) is an international airport under construction in the Timna Valley in southern Israel. It will replace Eilat Airport, handle all civilian flights currently using Ovda Airport, and serve as a diversion airport for Israel's primary airport, Ben Gurion. The airport will be located 18 km (11 mi) north of Eilat, next to Be'er Ora. It will have a 3,600 m (11,800 ft) runway, longer than the runway in Eilat, which will allow large aircraft to land. The airport was originally due to open in April 2017, but that has been pushed back to "late 2017."
Eilat Airport was established in 1949, when most of what would later be Eilat was empty. As the city developed, much of it was built around the airport. In the 1994 Peace Agreement between Israel and Jordan it was decided that operations would be transferred from Eilat Airport to Aqaba Airport. The original plan was to rename Aqaba Airport as Aqaba–Eilat Peace International Airport. The agreement was never carried out, and an agreement between the two countries in March 1997, stipulated that domestic flights would continue to use Eilat Airport, whilst no further action to move international flights took place.
Removing the Eilat Airport from the city center was considered necessary for further development of Eilat, as it would allow, among other things, the construction of additional hotels close to the shoreline. It would also reduce noise pollution. The project is part of a larger plan to develop the city, which includes mega-projects such as moving the Port of Eilat to a location near the Jordanian border (for which removing the original airport is necessary), the Railway to Eilat, and upgrading the Arava Road.