Every airline operating international direct flights to Ramon Airport, near Israel’s Red Sea resort city of Eilat will be awarded 60 euros (65 U.S. dollars) for each arriving passenger, the Ministry of Tourism said Monday.
The reward will be offered for the flights between September 2022 and May 2023, except for two one-week Jewish holidays in October and April, the ministry said in a statement.
“The procedure will bring back hundreds of thousands of tourists from abroad to Eilat in the winter”, the ministry added.
In early January, Israel allowed the entry of COVID-19 vaccinated and recovered passengers, and then in early March, of all passengers including the unvaccinated.
The flight procedure to Eilat has been successful over the years. The number of tourists landing in Eilat in the winter of 2019-2020 (until March 2020, with the halting of tourism following the COVID-19) reached a peak of about 150,000. The procedure, which is intended to encourage airlines to arrive in Eilat, has in the past led to the opening of 17 new destinations to the city and to about 45 flights a week. Prior to the implementation of the procedure, only about 4 flights a week landed in Eilat.
Minister of Tourism Yoel Razvozov: “Returning tourism to Israel during the winter months, and especially to the southern and Eilat area, is an important goal of ours in the Ministry of Tourism. I see great importance in making Israel an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world. Ramon Airport will bring in a lot of money to the State of Israel and bring many places of livelihood for the residents of the south and the residents of Eilat”.