The Airport Today
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Today, Eilat Airport sustains peak loads concentrated into Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. On Thursdays and Sundays, flights are handled in a period of a few hours in the mornings and on Saturdays only the evening hours are used. Often there are days when 10,000 passengers on 120 flights are channelled through the 2,800 m2 terminal, counting as one of the highest peak loads worldwide in this category.
Although the airport is capable of handling Boeing 767 aircraft, for large numbers of these aircraft, significant investment would be needed. Consequently, the largest aircraft regularly flying to the airport are Boeing 757. The main problem at the airport is the lack of ramp space, with just two parking positions for large aircraft. As a result, El Al operates regular shuttle flights to Ben Gurion International Airport carrying passengers from around the world on 757s, 737s and ATRs.
The small size of the airport is perhaps best illustrated with the fact that a Boeing 757 cannot taxi past another aircraft to parking positions. As a result, controllers are responsible not only for ensuring that valuable space is utilised, but also ensuring that other aircraft are kept circling until larger aircraft are parked. Despite these limitations, the airport successfully handles ten to twenty times more traffic than airports of a comparable size. It is for this reason that plans to relocate the airport are so important in the short-term scale. In 2006, a NIS 5.5 million renovation programme of Eilat Airport's terminal and runway was undertaken, designed to sustain the airport until it is replaced in the near future.
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