Ovda Airport (Ovda). Where is located, how to get to Eilat

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

In winter, spring and autumn, along with the resorts of Egypt, trips to the southernmost city of Israel - Eilat, become popular. Sometimes in the tickets of tourists the Ovda airport is listed under the point of arrival. What is it and where is this air harbor located? Why do other passengers flying to Southern Israel have Eilat as their point of arrival? In fact, this resort city on the Red Sea has two hubs. And in this article we will briefly talk about both. To find out where Ovda Airport is located, why it is called that and how to get from it to Eilat resort hotels, read the information below.

History

This hub was built in 1980 under the Camp David Accords. Then Israel was forced to return to Egypt its territories, illegally seized from it during the Six-Day War. Since there were no large military airfields in the south of the country, Uvda was built. The name of the UVDA hub is often pronounced "Ovda". This was the name of the military operation within the framework ofwar of 1947-1949, when the Jewish army took away the territory from the Arabs and established control over the lands off the northern coast of the Red Sea. At first, Ovda Airport accepted only military aircraft. But with the development of air technology, it became necessary to accept heavy passenger liners. The runway of Eilat city airport was too short and not suitable for this. This is where the military air base came in handy.

Ovda Airport today

It's only been thirty years since the hub was built. But Ovda over the years has managed to take second place in the country after Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv. It accepts all the so-called heavy boards of international flights. Of course, the popularity of Eilat as a seaside resort played a big role in the "promotion" of the former military airfield. But the hub itself - its huge size, amenities, functionality - has earned itself fame among tourists. And the reviews confirm this. Although the operation of the military base for civil aviation was planned as temporary (to unload the Eilat airport), Ovda took over almost all flights arriving in Eilat. However, soon the liners will take another hub. In 2016, the construction of the new Eilat International Airport (eighteen kilometers north of the city) should be completed. And then Uvda will again be handed over to the military.

Where is the hub and how to get to Eilat

Ovda Airport on the map is located sixty kilometers north of the resort center. To get to Eilat, there are several options. Of course, those vacationers who came on a tour should not have to worry about anything. Representatives of the travel agency will meet them and take them straight to the hotel. And independent travelers have to choose. The fastest, hassle-free, but, alas, expensive option is a taxi. You have to bargain with the driver. Then it will be possible to bring down the price to three hundred shekels (the usual fee is 350-500). The second option is on the city bus number 282. The cars arrive just in time for the flight and leave forty-five minutes after the landing of the liner. There is also bus number 392 connecting the cities of Beer Sheva and Eilat. His cars run every hour. For those who did not have time for public transport, there is another option to go to Eilat. You can ask the driver of the tourist bus. But getting hooked on a transfer is luck, not a pattern. Don't plan it.

Eilat Air Harbor Map

Ovda Airport is a one-story building where getting lost is simply unthinkable. The only terminal accepts both international and domestic routes. During the high tourist season, numerous charters are added to regular flights. During this period, queues are observed at check-in counters and at checkpoints of border guards. In Uvda, the features of the former military airfield are still observed. This affects the “higher alertness” of the guards, as well as a narrower offer of various services. There are no ATMs here, and the exchange rate offered at two currency exchange offices is noticeablydiffers (and not in a favorable direction for tourists) from the city. But the waiting room at the airport is quite comfortable, there are souvenir shops, press stalls, cafes, duty free.

What they say about the hub Uvda reviews

Aeroflot planes arrive here from Sheremetyevo, Isra Air, Vim-Avia and Ural Airlines from Domodedovo, Rossiya from Pulkovo in St. Petersburg. During the tourist season, charter flights are added to these regular flights. These are Azur Air airliners (departing from Domodedovo), Nordwind Airlines from St. Petersburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Sheremetyevo. Ovda Airport reviews call it very functional. Services try to avoid crowds, so sending and receiving passengers on a flight is quick. Eilat is a duty free zone. But still, at Ovda Airport, you can return VAT for goods purchased in other cities of Israel.