The government on Sunday approved the construction of a new international airport in the Timna Valley, in southern Israel, 30 kilometers north of Eilat. Once the new airport is complete, the area occupied by Eilat's current airport will be rezoned for tourism, commerce and new housing. The project's estimated cost is 1.6 billion shekels and will take around three years to complete. The Ministry of Transportation expects more than 1.5 million travellers a year to fly through Timna, 90 percent of them domestic. Half of the funding for the new airport will come from the sale of the current airport's land to real estate entrepreneurs. The Israel Airports Authority will raise the remaining funds to complete the project. The government's decision also affects the Ovda Airport near Eilat, which will close to commercial flights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was part of a campaign to encourage development in Eilat and one that would "propel the city of Eilat forward." "Closing the current airport will free up a lot of land within Eilat, which will allow the city to expand as well as prevent sound pollution and environmental damage near the city," Netanyahu said. In addition, the government is currently discussing the building of a railway to Eilat, as well as widening Highway 90, which runs the length of Israel from north to south, as well as possibly relocating the Eilat port. "All of these steps will change the face of things in Eilat and southern Israel." Netanyahu said. Eilat's mayor, Meir Yitzhak Halevi, was also present at the meeting.
The government proposed that the new airport be named after the late Ilan and Asaf Ramon. The former was Israel's first astronaut to fly to outer space, who died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle explosion. The latter was Ramon's son, a fighter pilot, who suffered a similarly tragic fate when his plane crashed during a training exercise in 2009.
