The cabinet approved Sunday the construction of a second
international airport to be located just north of the southern
city of Eilat.  The planned airport in Timna, 18 kilometers
north of Eilat, will replace the city's old local airport. The
construction is estimated to take three years and to cost NIS
1.7 billion.  The government plans on naming the airport after
the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the 2003
Columbia space shuttle disaster and his son Asaf Ramon, who died
six years later when his F-16 fighter jet crashed over the West
Bank.  In a statement issued by the cabinet, the government
expects the airport to "promote the economic progress of the
city by freeing up land for tourism, commerce and housing."  The
airport is part of a comprehensive plan to upgrade Eilat's
transportation infrastructure. In addition to the airport, a
light rail service and a new central bus station are also to be
built in the next few years, in addition to the widening of the
main road connecting Eilat to th