Israel will open its airspace for outgoing flights starting on Sunday, according to Transportation Minister Miri Regev. The start of the outgoing flights is "subject to the security reality," she said on Thursday.
Regev announced that after assessing the situation, "we have received the order to open the skies starting Sunday for outgoing flights, all of this of course subject to the security reality. We will update you throughout the day on the outline."
The announcement came shortly after the first rescue flights bringing stranded travelers back to Israel landed at Ben Gurion Airport after five days of a complete closure of the country’s airspace.
An El Al flight from Athens touched down first, followed minutes later by an Israir flight from Rome. Additional rescue flights operated by Arkia and Air Haifa are expected to arrive later in the day.
The flights are operating under a special rescue framework allowing up to two narrow-body aircraft to land per hour. Authorities may later allow either two narrow-body planes or one wide-body aircraft per hour, subject to approval from the Home Front Command and other security officials.
The airlines are expected to continue operating rescue flights through the weekend, depending on operational needs and the number of passengers waiting to return.
El Al announced Thursday morning officially that it will not fly on Shabbat to repatriate Israelis stranded abroad. "El Al does not fly on Shabbat," the company said. "According to the state's rescue plan, limited slots will be distributed to airlines. El Al has appealed to the authorities to allocate the slots it is entitled to, before the start of Shabbat and after its end, in a way that will allow the company to operate an air train accordingly, using its entire fleet of aircraft."