Eilat Airport (ETH)

Eilat Airport (ETH), officially known as J. Hozman Airport, was a historic aviation facility that served as the primary gateway to Israel's Red Sea resort city for exactly 70 years. Established in 1949 by the Israel Air Force, the airport initially connected the remote southern enclave with Tel Aviv and Haifa, playing a pivotal role in the early development of Eilat as a major tourism destination. The airport was named after Yakov Hozman, the founder of Arkia Airlines, and it remained a sentimental and functional landmark for generations of Israeli travelers until its permanent closure on March 18, 2019.

The airport was unique for its extreme proximity to the city center, with the runway effectively dividing the residential and commercial areas of Eilat from the hotel district along the shore. While this provided unmatched convenience for arriving tourists, it also posed significant safety and environmental challenges as the city expanded around it. The single 1,900-meter runway was limited to narrow-body aircraft and regional turboprops, meaning that larger international flights had to utilize the remote Ovda military base, creating a fragmented and often inefficient travel experience for the region's visitors.

The closure of Eilat Airport was coordinated with the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Ramon International Airport (ETM), located approximately 18 kilometers to the north. This transition allowed for the consolidation of all domestic and international regional traffic into a single, high-capacity hub capable of handling large long-haul aircraft. The move not only modernized the region's aviation infrastructure but also served a critical strategic purpose, providing Israel with a secondary international gateway and a primary diversion point for flights originally bound for Ben Gurion Airport.

Following the cessation of flight operations, the 750,000 square meters of former airport land have become the center of one of Israel's most ambitious urban renewal projects. The removal of the runway has allowed for the elimination of long-standing height restrictions on nearby buildings and the physical integration of previously separated city districts. The redevelopment plan includes the construction of thousands of new housing units, high-end hotels, a sprawling municipal park, and a landmark cultural center. As Eilat continues to transform, the legacy of the old airport remains a foundational chapter in the city's history as a premier coastal retreat.