Israel’s highest cultural honor to be awarded posthumously to Rona Ramon The wife of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who perished in the “Columbia” space shuttle explosion in 2003, died in December after a long battle with cancer. April 3, 2019
First international flights land at new airport in Eilat The flights were to Poznan, Poland, and round-trip from Prague. March 5, 2019
Israel inaugurates new international airport in Eilat to boost tourism Constructed at a cost of some $500 million, it has an annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers. It is able to handle 20 takeoffs and landings an hour and accommodate large aircraft, such as Boeing 747s. Ilan Gattegno and Ronit Zilberstein Jan. 21, 2019
Rona Ramon, wife of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, dies “Rona Ramon has gone from us as she lived among us—noble, clear and full of belief. Ilan and Asaf touched the skies, and Rona touched our hearts,” said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Dec. 17, 2018
