The significant presence of US military aircraft at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport is preventing a full return to normal commercial flight operations at Israel’s main international gateway, while also driving up operational costs for local airlines — expenses that aviation and industry officials warn will ultimately be passed on to travelers.

Amid continued regional tensions with Iran, Civil Aviation Authority head Shmuel Zakai warned defense and government officials that turning Ben Gurion Airport into a “US military base with limited commercial aircraft operations” is threatening the return of foreign airlines and harming the economic stability of Israeli airlines — a situation that is bound to lead to an increase in already-high airfares — according to a letter obtained by Israeli financial daily Calcalist.

In the letter, Zakai urged Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is also a member of the security cabinet, to take action to evacuate some US military planes from Ben Gurion and move them to military airbases to free up parking space for commercial planes.

“It appears the defense establishment lacks sufficient understanding of the severity of the damage to civil aviation and the effect flight supply has on prices and on all citizens in the country,” Zakai wrote.

The Transportation Ministry was not available for comment when contacted by The Times of Israel.

The warning comes more than a month after a volatile US-Israel ceasefire with Iran came into effect and the country’s airspace was fully reopened. While Israeli airlines have been working to speed up the resumption of flight operations, most European........

© The Times of Israel