Eilat Airport

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Eilat Airport
(J. Hozman Airport)
IATA: ETH - ICAO: LLET
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Israel Airports Authority
Serves Eilat
Elevation AMSL 42 ft (13 m)
Coordinates 29°33′40″N, 34°57′36″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03/21 6,234 1,900 Asphalt

Eilat Airport or J. Hozman Airport (IATA: ETH, ICAO: LLET) is an Israeli airport located in Eilat. It handles mainly domestic flights to Tel Aviv and Haifa, but also international flights using planes that can use the relatively short runway (other flights to and from Eilat use Ovda International Airport). It is located in the center of the city Eilat, next to road 90 (The Arava Road).

Contents

[edit] History

The city of Eilat was established in 1949, at the end of Operation Ovda and the occupation of Umm Rashrash. The airport was established at the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in 1949. Eilat enjoyed at its first years many development plans, which were suppose to assure its connection to the Jewish settlements across the country, and especially with Tel Aviv and Haifa. As a result of this aim, a regular line from Eilat to Ben Gurion international Airport in Lod (a city located next to Tel Aviv) and later on with Haifa.

In December 1950, Arkia Israel Airlines were established (with DH-89 and C-46 Aircrafts), and since then it is the main airline which operating domestically in Eilat, taking the position of the former companies "Eilata" and "Aviron".

In 1964 the aircraft track was expanded to 1500 m, and a passengers terminal was first built. 5 years later, the last expansion of the track was made, 400 m longer than before. In 1975, Eilat airport started to attract Scandinavian airline companies, thanks to the hot weather in Eilat, which is very much liked by Scandinavian tourists, who escape from the cold winters in their countries. In that very year, the first international flight, of the Danish "Sterling" airline company landed in Eilat, and since then many international connections lines have been established with Europe. However, the airport is still not able to operate landings of big airplanes such as Boeing 707, DC-10, DC-8 and their like.

[edit] The Israeli-Jordanian agreement

Israel and Jordan agreed in their peace contract, signed in 1994, the Eilat airport was not suppose to operate flights anymore, but transfer its activity in the Aqaba airport. However, since the signing of the peace contract, neither Israel nor Jordan promoted the initiative, which will probably never come into reality.

[edit] The controversy of the location of the airport

Since the beginning of the 1990's the authorities in Eilat have considered relocating the airport, a little north of Eilat, to the Eora Whale area (20 km north of Eilat). The reasons behind this were, firstly, security, especially of a flight crashing on buildings in the city, the value of the territory surrounding the airport, and also the fact that airport is dividing the city of Eilat into two parts: The hotels and tourist areas in one hand, and the residential buildings on the other. Most of the residents of the city voted for relocating the airport 1 km north, a cheap project, which will be able to solve the security problems and the hassle of crossing the city from one part to the other. However, the constructors of the project of relocating Eilat do not support this suggestion, and prefer to relocate the airport to the Eora Whale area. The constructors, have presented their ideas of the future airport, which will suit big airplanes and extensive international flights, with the opening of a grand international terminal.

[edit] Statistics

Statistics for Eilat Airport
Year Total Passengers Total operations
1998 1,371,098 29,726
1999 1,554,988 31,279
2000 1,584,359 29,207
2001 1,339,779 24,878
2002 1,252,395 23,581
2005 1,048,975 18,777

[edit] Destinations & Airlines

These destinations are currently served by the following airlines:

[edit] External links

Flag of Israel
Airports in Israel
International Tel Aviv Ben Gurion | Eilat Ovda Int'l
Domestic Be'er Sheva | Eilat | Ein Yahav | Haifa | Herzliya | Kiryat Shmona | Masada Airfield | Megiddo | Mitzpe Ramon | Pik | Rosh Pina Ben Ya'aqov | Tel Aviv Sde Dov | Yotvata
Military Ein Shemer | Kfar Sirkin | Hatserim | Hatsor | Nevatim | Palmachim | Ramat David | Ramon | Tel Nof
Defunct Jerusalem Atarot
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