The threat to summer travel from Israel has narrowed, but has not disappeared. The Israel Airports Authority said Tuesday that progress in efforts to remove some of the American aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport means a letter that was expected to be sent to airlines instructing them to prepare for widespread cancellations during the summer and the Jewish High Holidays will not be issued at this stage.
Officials now estimate that instead of a possible impact on more than 2.4 million flight tickets, the remaining risk is limited to hundreds of thousands of cancellations. The Airports Authority said efforts are continuing to move additional aircraft out of Ben Gurion in order to further reduce the expected disruption during the peak summer travel season.
The decision not to send the warning letter for now appears to follow progress in talks to remove some of the U.S. refueling and transport planes that have been parked in Israel, possibly as early as this weekend. About 75 American aircraft are currently parked at Ben Gurion Airport, taking up a significant share of the airport’s parking capacity. According to officials familiar with the matter, about 20 aircraft are expected to be removed in the first stage in the coming days.
The move is expected to ease the parking shortage that has prompted sharp warnings in recent weeks from the Israel Airports Authority and the Transportation Ministry. The authority had warned that without the removal of the aircraft, airlines would be forced to cut summer and High Holiday flight schedules on an unprecedented scale.
“We are already down to several hundred thousand flight cancellations in July,” Israel Airports Authority director general Sharon Kedmi told ynet Tuesday morning. “But more effort will be needed to remove more and more dozens of aircraft from the American fleet that are still parked at Ben Gurion Airport with no expected evacuation date, so we can continue reducing as much as possible the expected impact on the peak summer season for Israelis flying abroad.”
Kedmi stressed that, at this stage, the concern over summer flight cancellations cannot be removed entirely. Even after the planned removal of some aircraft, the number of American planes that will remain at Ben Gurion Airport will still be high, he said, and efforts are continuing to find additional solutions that would further reduce the scope of cancellations.
Just two days ago, Transportation Minister Miri Regev warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an urgent letter that without the immediate removal of some of the American aircraft, more than 2.4 million flight tickets for the summer and High Holiday travel season could be canceled. At the same time, the director general of the Airports Authority warned that “one in every four passengers” could receive a cancellation notice if no solution was found to the parking shortage at Ben Gurion Airport.
In her letter to Netanyahu, Regev said dozens of American refueling and transport planes parked at Ben Gurion Airport and Ramon Airport were occupying a large share of the parking capacity intended for commercial flights. She called for some of them to be transferred to Israeli Air Force bases or other airports, warning of serious damage to the aviation industry, tourism and the traveling public during the summer and holiday period.
First published: 08:57, 06.16.26