OT: Ramon airport is being built in the Negev
 

Sorry, in Hebrew:
http://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/architecture/1.2937487

Are pax expected to walk to the aircraft?

Shuly

Just like the do today?

Its a pretty dumb project, to waste billions on a resort city airport.

Add it to the list of dumb things the state likes to waste money on.

Buses - just like the old Ben Gurion before they built Terminal 3.

Actually, it's only really a couple of months a year where it isn't rather pleasant to walk outside down the stairs - very little bad weather in Eilat, but it is kind of absurd to build a new airport without a jetbridge.

absurd?

Don't be ridiculous!

Welcome to Israel!

I can't agree with you on this point. The airport is going to be Israel's second international airport. Having more and more int'l traffic to Ovda airport (mostly low-cost), I imagine that moving the growiing int'l traffic to Ramon will enable tourists to Israel to select flights to Ramon instead of TLV when travelling to Israel (not to Eilat) and then taking a connecting domestic flight north, or bus. The other side of this coin is for Israelis - as an Israeli I would have loved to take those 25-euro flights (Rynair) to Europe from Ovda - but how do I get there? If those flights are from Ramon, I can take a connecting domestic flight or take a bus.

You are assuming there will be proper connecting flights, have you ever tried to connect in TLV to get to ETH? You will get there faster by train&bus...

To do what you describe, you will have to book separate tickets, with the price of the domestic sector probably being more expensive than the international one, and of course if the first flight is delayed you are not protected for the second flight, is it really worth all the hassle considering there are LLC flying out of TLV (Wizz air, Easyjet etc.)

Why would a tourist take a flight to Ramon & then connect directly to TLV instead of just flying to TLV?

I bet there are a lot of Israelis who'd take the bus (or drive) to Eilat to get a 25 euro flight to Europe. Even the LCCs flying from TLV aren't anywhere near that cheap. I also think they should enlarge the airport in Haifa and encourage LCCs to fly there too. I'd definitely take the train or bus to Haifa for a cheap flight to Europe.

Out of interest... what does a bus cost? I can find LLC flights out of TLV for as cheap as 50-70€ (one way), is it really worth it to take a drive for 4-5 hours just to save 20€?
I also looked at Ryanair website and couldn't find any flight for less than 35€, which makes it even less attractive.

Not saying people won't do it, just doesn't seem that attractive to me :-)

It's about $18.50 each way on the bus. I'm sure it's not something people will do every day but there are certain times of the year where TLV prices get insane and sometimes you have to take odd routings to get to/from Europe. Last October I flew LGW-LCA on Thomas Cook and then LCA-TLV on UP and it saved me hundreds over any other option from London to Tel Aviv. I would have been just as happy to fly STN-ETH on Ryanair if such a flight existed and then take the bus home.

I guess you are talking about the jewish and/or summer holiday times? But then ryanair only flies to Eilat during winter times.

I hope there will be more/better flights from Europe to Eilat with the new airport open as I do like both Eilat & Aqaba, but getting there from Europe is always a PITA

When will the airport open?

Due to open next year.

The low fares people are quoting include a temporary subsidy from the Eilat hotels to encourage tourism. Be real folks, IAA will run the airport, fees will be high, and the tickets will be only a few $ lower than TLV if at all. And do you think the bus to Tel Aviv will run every 5 minutes?

The domestic carriers are mainly flying people whom go to Eilat for vacations, about 24 flights a day (depending on the season) go through ETH. Why not 48? 72? demand is the answer, having 48 flights - probably about 24 of them will be empty, there is a limit to the number of people going to their hotels in Eilat.
But, if the air traffic to Ramon will also serve another thing - the international flights, I think the demand for int'l service has the potential to surpass the demand for Eilat vacationers by far. The domestic airlines will add more and more flights, this will ultimately IMHO cause a decreases of the price tag of a domestic flight.
The int'l low-cost flights price tags we've seen in Ovda in the past few months is far lower than in TLV.
In time, we could see the low-cost airlines sell bundle with the Israeli domestic carrier for onward flights. There are so many domestic flights to/from Eilat (and there will be even more) I can't imagine that missing your domestic flight due to the int'l flight being late constituting any problem, they'll put you on the next available seat in a domestic flight out of Ramon.

- because it would be MUCH cheaper to fly via Ramon, taking a domestic flight in/out of it.
As an Israeli, I would fly ONLY via Ramon because of the enormous price difference (and I'm including the domestic flight price in the pack).

Overall, I can't see why wouldn't the air traffic market in Israel will develop in this direction. It would take time, but it will happen IMHO.

And yet, if you try to connect in TLV you are always offered a donestic flight 4 or 5 hours after landing from your international one...
That's wishful thinking, LLC are point to point carriers, they don't even offer connections on their own flights, nor do they have any codeshare agreements with other carriers
Not to mention the other direction, if your TLV-ETH flight is delayed and you miss your ETH-XXX flight, the next one is in 2 or 3 days...