Israel’s brand-new Ramon International Airport near Eilat is finally open to the world as its first international flight touched down on Monday.
Ramon International Airport is the first civilian-use airport to be built in Isreal since 1948, when the modern Jewish state was founded.
The airport is named in honor of the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, and his son Assaf, an Israeli Air Force pilot who died in a training accident in 2009.
Located only 19 kilometers, or 12 miles, away from Red Sea resort city of Eilat, it will be the only airport to serve the area. The domestic-only Eilat airport as well as Ovda Airport, used primarily for the military, will be closed.
Ramon International Airport has an expected rate of 2 million passengers a year with plans to expand to 4.5 million.