AIRWAYS SPECIAL Handling the Threats
7 a drone , civilian aircraft , and fighter jet look very different .
ROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD
The situation between Israel and Hamas is already complicated ; the addition of neighboring hostile powers such as Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon , which have exchanged artillery fire with Israel , complicates things further . Clashes on Israel ’ s northern border with Lebanon and Syria have reached levels not seen since 2006 , during the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah . And missiles and drones launched in October from Yemen at southern Israel by the Houthis were shot down by air defense systems .
There is the fear that Hezbollah will make a mistake when firing on targets in Northern Israel . However , Israel says that it is continually monitoring the risks posed by all sides very closely . The CAA says that , should it see any rockets launched toward Ben Gurion , it will freeze traffic and reroute all traffic to Eilat Ramon Airport in the south .
Due to its surroundings , Israel has to safeguard its air safety on three fronts : the north , against Syria and Lebanon , the southwest , against Gaza , and the south , against Yemen . The Israeli Defense Forces and Air Force take pains to conduct air defense operations that impact civil aviation operations .
EILAT RAMON AIRPORT
In times of conflict , the airlines that service Ben Gurion need a backup airport . For carriers flying to Ben Gurion , such backup is provided by Ramon ( ETM ) Airport , in the Red Sea tourist city of Eilat . The airport opened for commercial operations in January 2019 , becoming Israel ’ s first new international airport in more than 50 years . The airport is named after Ilan Ramon , the first Israeli astronaut in space , who died onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia ; and his son Assaf Ramon , who died during a training mission while flying an F-16 .
Ramon Airport , which replaced the former Eilat Airport and Ovda Airport for civilian traffic , is located 11 miles ( 17km ) north of Eilat , on the border with Jordan . As part of extraordinary precautions , the airport boasts the world ’ s largest anti-missile fence , 85ft ( 26m ) tall and 2.8 miles
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