Reduced US refuelers at Ben Gurion still put flights of 100,000 summer travelers at risk

While the US has begun to relocate some of its refueling aircraft that have been parked at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport for months, their current presence at the country’s main international air gateway is still threatening flight cancellations for 100,000 passengers during the peak summer season beginning in July, Israel Airports Authority head Sharon Kedmi has warned.

In an urgent letter sent to Transportation Minister Miri Regev this week, Kedmi cautioned that unless additional US aircraft are removed in the coming days, the Airports Authority will have to notify Israeli airlines that they need to prepare for major flight cancellations in the summer holiday season starting on July 1 and into August.

A fleet of about 75 US refuelers and cargo planes has parked at Ben Gurion Airport for long months, as part of the US military buildup in the region prior to the US-Israel war with Iran, which erupted on February 28 and led to the closure of Israel’s airspace.

The presence has caused a parking shortage, crippling the operations of Israeli commercial flight operations. At Israel’s request, about 20 US aircraft refuelers have been removed over the past few days, according to local aviation officials.

Regev had demanded that some 30 US aircraft be relocated to airports outside Israel, or moved to Israeli Air Force bases.

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Currently, more than 65,000 passengers pass through Ben Gurion daily. As the summer vacation starts on July 1, commercial aircraft capacity for civilian flights will need to be increased as daily passenger traffic is expected to climb, reaching about 70,000-100,000 in August. Ben Gurion will not be able to handle that traffic in the current situation due to a shortage of parking spots, the Airports Authority has warned.

Following the partial relocation of US aircraft, the total number of parking spaces currently available at Ben Gurion is 65, out of the 99 designated for civilian passenger aircraft. The minimum number of parking spots required for flight operations in July is at least 80, according to the Airports Authority. For August, a complete evacuation of all 99 parking spaces designated for passenger aircraft will be needed to meet expected passenger traffic, according to Kedmi.

In response, the Transportation Ministry said that officials, led by Regev, were in intensive talks for the removal of at least 15 US refueling aircraft from the airport grounds.

The congestion at Ben Gurion is not only limiting and harming flight operations of Israeli airlines – El Al, Arkia, and Israir – but could also delay foreign airlines’ return and push up airfares, local aviation officials have warned.

Since the fragile ceasefire announcement in early April and the reopening of Ben Gurion to regular civilian air traffic, and amid last week’s emerging deal between Iran and the US to end the war, only a few foreign airlines have resumed their Tel Aviv flight operations with limited capacity. At the end of May, Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air returned to Ben Gurion after a three-month break.

Germany’s Lufthansa group of carriers — which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings — restarted flight services to and from Israel in a phased manner from June. Austrian Airlines restarted flights to and from Tel Aviv on June 1. Other airlines in the group are currently planning to resume flights on July 1, with Eurowings expected to return to Tel Aviv by mid-July.

Spanish carrier Air Europe is planning to renew flights between Madrid and Tel Aviv on June 29.

Meanwhile, major European airlines, including Air France, have continued to cancel flight services to and from Israel through June, and British Airways has canceled services up to October. US carriers, including Delta, have pushed back their return to September.