Ben Gurion Airport is closing out a week marked by heavy delays, with conditions expected to worsen in the coming week. More than 30 U.S military refueling aircraft are parked at the airport and, according to assessments by security officials, the U.S. military intends to bring about 10 more refueling aircraft to Israel in the coming days, most of which are expected to be parked at Ben Gurion Airport.
The Israel Airports Authority has said in recent weeks that more than 20 refuelers cause disruptions at the airport, and passengers who flew over the past week experienced the proof of that.
The average delay at Ben Gurion Airport this week was about 65 minutes at Terminal 3 and 61 minutes at Terminal 1, according to data from the airport congestion index. On Thursday, more than 90,000 passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport, and heavy congestion led to prolonged waits for luggage. Some passengers reported waiting more than two hours.
The many disruptions led the Israel Airports Authority to issue a statement warning that the presence of the refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport is disrupting flight operations: “The presence of the partner aircraft (the refuelers) at the airport creates unusual operational congestion and a domino effect that affects the pace of activity and flight schedules. This impact is felt even more strongly during the peak of the summer season, when Ben Gurion Airport is operating at unprecedented activity levels and serving a particularly large number of passengers and flights every day.”
Summer travel season at Ben Gurion Airport
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
It was a challenging week at Ben Gurion Airport, just before August, considered the peak month for aviation in Israel. In addition to the refuelers, two unusual incidents occurred that affected flights. On Sunday, communication with a radar system in Greek airspace went down, leading to heavy air traffic congestion in the area and changes to flights not only to Greece, but also to Budapest, Paris, Montenegro and Israel, since many flights to and from Israel pass through Greek airspace.
The next day, a malfunction occurred in the European air traffic control system Eurocontrol in Brussels, causing additional disruptions to the flight schedule across European airspace and creating prolonged delays for incoming and outgoing flights at Ben Gurion Airport. Despite the disruption involving the Greek radar system, the most unusual delays this week were recorded on flights to Berlin, with an average of 105 minutes. Flights to Heraklion and Corfu in Greece ranked second and third in the delays table, with an average delay of 97 minutes.