New International Airport Opens for Business Near Israel’s Southern Resort Town Eilat

Israel’s new Ramon international airport, serving the country’s southern region, opened for business Monday. The airport is located in Timna Valley, 19 kilometers north of Eilat, a resort town on the coast of the Red Sea known for its mostly sunny weather year-round. Ramon airport is meant to replace the smaller Ovda airport, up until now the only airport in the country’s south.

The new airport is named after Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut to visit space who was killed in 2003 in the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and his son, Assaf Ramon, who was killed in a training accident at the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy in 2009.