Fresh flight restrictions thwart Israelis’ Passover plans, send carriers scrambling |
Israel’s El Al Airlines said on Monday it was reviewing its operations, and carrier Arkia said it was taking the unprecedented action of shifting its operations to Egypt and Jordan, after the Transportation Ministry ordered a sharp reduction of traffic at Ben Gurion Airport, upending travel plans for tens of thousands of Israelis.
Late on Sunday after a security assessment, Transportation Minister Miri Regev opted to scale back the number of takeoffs and landings from Ben Gurion “in order to prevent potential risk to human life” due to continued Iranian missile fire at Israel. The move comes ahead of the Passover holiday next week and with schools going on vacation starting Tuesday.
The new limitations were set to go into effect starting 5 p.m. Monday, with the number of passengers permitted on a flight departing Ben Gurion Airport dropping to 50 from the current 120. There will be no restrictions on the number of passengers on arriving flights. However, the number of takeoffs and landings at Ben Gurion Airport will be restricted to one per hour, instead of the two previously allowed.
“This is an inconvenience, but our commitment to human life is our top priority, and this is where the decision is derived from,” said Regev. “At any given moment, in accordance with the recommendations of the security establishment and professional bodies, the guidelines may change.”
Arkia said the new directive effectively constituted a closure of the country’s airspace.
Flag carrier El Al said it was reviewing continued operations at the country’s main gateway due to the “significant” reduction in the number of passengers departing Israel, as well as in takeoffs and landings.
El Al, which has been operating repatriation flights since the outbreak of the US-Israeli air war with Iran on February 28, called on authorities to open Ramon Airport near the Red Sea port of Eilat as an alternative to Ben Gurion.
El Al has not yet updated its new flight schedule, but said it plans to operate a schedule for continued “essential activity” to maintain the air bridge to and from Israel.
Israir did not immediately publish a response to the new restrictions.
“Arkia will continue to operate responsibly in accordance with the guidelines, while maintaining the safety of its passengers and providing alternative and creative aviation solutions,” said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz. “However, under the current framework, regular aviation activity cannot be maintained, as it practically means the closure of Israel’s skies.”
Arkia said it will organize long-haul flights departing from airports in Taba and Aqaba, situated close to Israel’s land border crossings with Egypt and Jordan, respectively. The flights chartered on leased foreign aircraft departing from Aqaba airport will operate to three destinations: New York, Bangkok, and Hanoi.
Travel agents said the move effectively canceled all Passover travel plans.
“The current situation and recent restrictions coupled with suspensions of flight services by foreign airlines have led to the cancellation of approximately a quarter of a million tickets for the Passover period, creating a significant vacuum that cannot be filled,” Shirley Cohen Orkaby, VP at Eshet Tours, told The Times of Israel. “In practice, the new restrictions on flights from Ben Gurion Airport mean that there is currently no real way to travel abroad from Israel.”
“Most Israelis who booked flights will no longer travel abroad this coming Passover,” said Cohen Arkaby.
Israel’s airspace has been shut to most commercial traffic since February 28, when Israel launched joint attacks with the US on the Iranian regime. Earlier this month, Ben Gurion Airport gradually reopened for limited inbound and outbound flights, operated solely by Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia, Israir and Air Haifa, to repatriate over 100,000 stranded abroad.
Last week, Israel started to tighten passenger quota restrictions on outbound flights after three private jets parked at Ben Gurion Airport were damaged by debris following the interception of an Iranian ballistic missile. The fresh restrictions come after Iranian ballistic missiles targeted central and southern Israel in recent days, with multiple impacts and people injured.
Yaneev Lanis, founder of online booking site Secret Flights, said the new restrictions reduce air traffic by 75 percent or even 80% of the previous already limited activity.
“No Israeli airline has a real alternative for travelers,” said Lanis. “That’s as demand is high from Israelis who want to leave because Passover vacation is beginning soon, and people are running to shelters multiple times a day.”
“Even Arkia, which is chartering flights from Aqaba, has a very reduced capacity, and they don’t have enough seats to offer their passengers,” he added.
Similarly, Cohen Arkaby said that “a small number will still depart on the limited flights operated by Israeli airlines from Ben Gurion Airport, or via Taba or Aqaba.”
Asked whether traveling via Taba or Aqaba is dangerous for Israelis, Cohen Arkaby said it is a “personal choice.”
“From what I understand from Israelis who are traveling through these routes, they rely on the judgment of Israel’s security authorities,” said Cohen Arkaby.
Since the start of the Iran war, and amid the restrictions on Israel’s airspace, Arkia and Israir have been offering flights from airports in Taba and Aqaba chartered by foreign aircraft to some destinations in Europe to help stranded Israelis return home and others leave the country via land border crossings, which have remained open.
Between February 28 and March 18, more than 52,000 people have left the country via land border crossings, and more than 38,000 have entered Israel via land routes, according to the Israel Airports Authority.
That’s as foreign airlines have been extending the suspension of flight services to and from Israel for the coming weeks, and some until June.
“We are seeing many Israelis who are choosing to replace their overseas vacation with a domestic one, mainly in hotels in Eilat and the Dead Sea,” said Cohen Arkaby.
Regev said Sunday night that since Ben Gurion Airport was gradually reopened, 140,000 Israelis have returned home on repatriation flights operated by Israeli airlines.
“Since the operation of repatriating Israelis is completed and no Israeli is stuck abroad, Israeli airlines could completely stop all passenger flights as there is no reason for any air connection abroad,” said Lanis.
Arkia said it will also operate minimal traffic from Ben Gurion Airport, including flights to Larnaca and Athens, mainly for humanitarian reasons.
“It makes sense that they want to take as many Israelis as they can to the nearest hubs,” said Lanis. “At the same time, if there’s not enough demand for travelers back into Israel and nobody’s funding those empty seats, then it doesn’t make any financial or economical sense to fly a plane that is a quarter full to Paris just to come back come back half full or empty, since there is not enough demand right now to travel to Israel.”
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
1 Inside storyGulf states opposed war with Iran. Most are now pushing to keep the fight going
2 Israeli, US researchers find brain’s signals that make OCD behaviors hard to stop
3 Paleolithic chic: 500,000 years ago, Israel’s ancient toolmakers had a taste for sparkle
4 US said planning weeks-long operation to reopen Hormuz Strait; IDF strikes Tehran overnight
5 Trump’s shifting Strait of Hormuz strategies raise questions about US war preparation
6 Amid Israeli warnings, UK minister says no proof Iran trying to hit Europe, doubts it can do so
7 Personal tributeOfer Moskovitz, killed close to Lebanon border, poured heart and soul into his beloved north
8 Reporter's notebookAfter a night of destruction, residents of Arad and Dimona begin picking up the pieces
2026 US-Israel war with Iran
El Al Israel Airlines