(March 5, 2019 / JNS)
Irish budget-friendly airliner Ryanair became the first to land a plane at Eilat’s new international airport on Monday.
The flights were to Poznan, Poland, and round-trip from Prague.
The Ramon International Airport is named after the first Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who perished in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, and his son Asaf Ramon, who died six years later when his F-16 fighter jet crashed in a training accident.
Ramon’s wife and Asaf’s mother, Rona Ramon, passed away on Dec. 17.
The airport, constructed at a cost of some $500 million, has an annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers, with room for expansion. It is able to handle 20 takeoffs and landings an hour and accommodate large aircraft, such as Boeing 747s.
