Spaceship-like airport lands in Israel with the structure blending into the desert landscape

Looking fly! Stunning spaceship-like airport lands in Israel with the £332m structure blending into the desert landscape

  • The Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport is located 18km from the coastal resort city of Eilat
  • The transport hub, which opened on January 21, is named after Ilan Ramon, the first and only Israeli astronaut 
  • According to local news reports, the airport has the world’s tallest anti-missile fence at 85ft high

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A stunning spaceship-like airport has landed in Israel.

The Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport, located 11 miles from the coastal resort city of Eilat, cost more than £332 million ($436 million) to build, with construction starting in 2013.

Renderings of the cutting-edge transport hub show it blending into the desert landscape with a slick minimalist design. 

The Ilan and Asaf Ramon International Airport, located 11 miles from the coastal resort city of Eilat, cost more than £332 million ($436 million) to build, with construction starting in 2013

Renderings of the cutting-edge transport hub show it blending into the desert landscape with a slick minimalist design

A view of the airport control tower

Renderings of the cutting-edge transport hub show it blending into the desert landscape with a slick minimalist design

The terminal building features giant glass panels that allow natural light to flood in

The terminal building features giant glass panels that allow natural light to flood in

The terminal building, designed by two of Israel’s leading firms, Amir Mann-Ami Shinar Architects and Moshe Zur Architects, was constructed out of a steel and concrete frame and clad with insulating aluminum triangular panels.  

There are also giant glass panels that allow natural light to flood into the sprawling building. 

According to local news reports, the airport – which is spread across 1,250 acres – has the world’s tallest anti-missile fence at 85 feet high to protect from potential terrorist attacks.

The airport was built to replace the two existing airports in Eilat – Eilat City Airport and Ovda Airport – and to create a new international gateway to Southern Israel and the Red Sea.  

The terminal building, designed by two of Israel's leading firms, was constructed out of a steel and concrete frame and clad with insulating aluminum triangular panels

The terminal building, designed by two of Israel’s leading firms, was constructed out of a steel and concrete frame and clad with insulating aluminum triangular panels

According to local news reports, the airport - which is spread across 1,250 acres - has the world's tallest anti-missile fence at 85 feet high to protect from potential terrorist attacks

According to local news reports, the airport – which is spread across 1,250 acres – has the world’s tallest anti-missile fence at 85 feet high to protect from potential terrorist attacks

The Ramon Airport is expected to handle up to two million passengers a year with a planned expansion allowing capacity of up to 4.2 million passengers by the year 2030

The Ramon Airport is expected to handle up to two million passengers a year with a planned expansion allowing capacity of up to 4.2 million passengers by the year 2030

All domestic flights to the old Eilat City Airport from Tel Aviv and Haifa will now move to the new Eilat Ramon Airport, while the airport will also begin handling low-cost and charter flights from Europe which currently land in Ovda Airport, including flights from Ryanair, WizzAir, easyJet, Transavia, SAS, Finnair, Edelweiss and Ural Airlines. 

The new airport, which opened on January 21, is named after Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut who was killed in the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, and his son, Assaf Ramon, who was killed in a training accident at the Israel Air Force Flight Academy in 2009.  

The Ramon Airport is expected to handle up to two million passengers a year with a planned expansion allowing capacity of up to 4.2 million passengers by the year 2030. 

Commenting on the airport’s design, project design manager, Amir Mann said: ‘Our objective was how not to compete with the overwhelming emptiness of the site, while creating a place that welcomes passengers through the departure and arrival processes, reflecting through that experience the uniqueness of the desert environment, as a functioning international southern gate to Israel.’

The airport was built to replace the two existing airports in Eilat - Eilat City Airport and Ovda Airport - and to create a new international gateway to Southern Israel and the Red Sea

The airport was built to replace the two existing airports in Eilat – Eilat City Airport and Ovda Airport – and to create a new international gateway to Southern Israel and the Red Sea



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