Keeping consumer price reform and an open skies policy in mind, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz has instructed the Israel Airports Authority to work on some 70 airline routes that will fly in and out of the Ilan and Assaf Ramon Airport at Timna near Eilat, which is currently under construction and slated to open next winter. Katz has ordered the IAA to implement a plan to develop international air routes for the Ramon Airport as well as develop the existing potential for new air routes to take full advantage of the new airport's capacity. The IAA has already met with various airlines and conducted market research in Europe and the Far East, as well as with key players in developing new flight routes for the Ramon Airport. The IAA marketing team, which began its work a year and a half ago, has met with budget air carrier Ryanair, which has submitted a request to the IAA to be allowed to establish an operations hub at the new airport that would serve a fleet of eight to 10 aircraft in accordance with the activity it plans for the new airport. In addition to Ryanair, the EasyJet and Wizz airlines, which currently operate out of the Uvda Airport in southern Israel, have announced their intention to increase flights out of Uvda, and eventually out of the Ramon Airport at Timna. Other airlines that see the new airport as an opportunity for independent operations in the winter season include Transavia (based in Amsterdam), SAS (Stockholm, Copenhagen), Air Baltic (Riga in Latvia), and Turkish Airlines out of Istanbul. The Ramon Airport is designed to serve passengers heading for destinations in the south of Israel such as Eilat, the Dead Sea, Masada, and will also comprise an important base for passengers heading to the Far East and an economic opportunity in the form of cargo flights to Europe. Katz said that "canceling the tax for airlines flying into the Uvda and eventually the Ramon Airport for the first three years of their activity is an important incentive. Eilat is a destination and a major factor in moving the Ramon Airport along, but airlines see flights to Uvda and later on to Ramon as a good business alternative for flights to Israel." The transportation minister added: "We are continuing to develop Israel's airports and drop prices so that the consumer revolution will reach every home and the Israeli public will be the main beneficiary. Ahead of the opening of the Ramon Airport, we will bring in more airlines and aircraft flying into and out of Israel, and competition for the Israeli consumer will drop the prices of flights by tens of percent."
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70 airline routes envisioned for new Ramon Airport in Eilat
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz urges Israel Airport Authority to fully exploit capacity of new airport, which is designed to bring travelers to destinations in southern Israel such as Eilat as well as serve as a hub for cargo flights to Europe.