Ramon International Airport — Eilat, Israel

Ramon International Airport, identified by the code ETM, opened in 2019 as Israel's new southern gateway, consolidating civilian air traffic that previously used a small in-town Eilat airport and the more remote Ovda military-shared field. The airport honors Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, who died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, alongside his son Assaf, a fighter pilot killed years later in a training accident. Positioned in the Arava desert north of Eilat, ETM serves the resort city's Red Sea beaches and diving sites, along with striking desert scenery near the Jordanian and Egyptian borders. From nearby vantage points, travelers can sometimes glimpse four countries at once. The relocation away from Eilat's old downtown airstrip freed valuable coastal land for future urban development while improving noise conditions for residents.