Palestinians can start flying from Ramon Airport this month
A pilot program to allow West Bank Palestinians to use Israel’s Ramon Airport near Eilat is set to start later this month, the Israel Airports Authority announced on Tuesday.
West Bank Palestinians who want to travel abroad must currently go through the Allenby Crossing in the Jordan Valley and into neighboring Jordan for international flights from Amman.
Most West Bank Palestinians cannot travel through Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport.
Israel is planning to open Allenby Bridge 24 hours a day by the end of September to ease congestion there.
The office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said that Palestinians would be shuttled directly from the West Bank to Ramon and that security clearances would be needed.
At present, the program includes only two flights a week to Turkey on an Airbus A321, with 220 seats. One
flight will head to Istanbul and the other to Antalya. Palestinians can then connect to onward flights in Istanbul.
Palestinians who leave the West Bank from Allenby Bridge and fly from Amman can access any flight and head to any destination.
The Palestinian Authority has not supported the Ramon Airport plan and would have preferred to see Israel renovate the former Atarot Airport. It is located on the edge of Jerusalem, right next to the West Bank Palestinian city of Ramallah, and was closed in 2021.
The Palestinian Authority had hoped that Palestinians could access Atarot without going through any Israeli checkpoints.
US President Joe Biden had spoken of the importance of improving travel for Palestinians when he visited Israel and the Palestinian territories last month.