Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced on Monday that Israel was preparing for a gradual reopening of its airspace beginning next week, and subject to security developments, in order to return those stranded outside of the country during Operation Roaring Lion.
Ben-Gurion Airport has been closed for both arrivals and departures since the beginning of the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran that began on Saturday.
Thousands of Israelis have been stranded abroad due to the situation, as flights around the world to Israel have been canceled.
“I have instructed the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Shmuel Zakay, to meet with the Israeli airlines to prepare for a gradual reopening of the skies, beginning next week, all of course subject to security developments,” Regev said.
The transportation minister made remarks on reopening the airspace after a situational assessment at Ben-Gurion Airport, together with the director-general of the Transportation Ministry, the director of the Civil Aviation Authority, and the chairman and CEO of the Israel Airports Authority.
“I cannot detail all of the actions we are taking,” Regev added. “However, I can say at this stage that we are in contact with neighboring countries, and thousands of Israelis are returning home through the land crossings, which we have reinforced and which remain open.”
Regev clarified that there were no changes to the security guidelines regarding the reopening of the skies as of Monday.
“As of this hour, I clarify that there is no change in the guidelines, and Israel’s airspace remains closed due to the security reality,” she said.
The transportation minister also said that as of Monday, Israel “had completed the first stage” of the effort to bring home those stranded abroad by evacuating Israeli aircraft and flight crews on approximately 70 planes from the country.
El Al: Passengers with cancelled flights will be reassigned with no additional cost
Israel’s flag carrier, El Al, stated on Tuesday that a customer whose flight was canceled would be reassigned to a return flight to Israel at no additional cost, based on priority, according to the order of the original return date to Israel.
“We commit: All our customers will return to Israel at no additional cost. We will give priority to exceptional humanitarian medical cases, even if they did not purchase an El Al ticket. It is possible to contact us via a special form on the El Al website,” the airline started.
On Monday, EL AL announced that it was beginning preparations for the recovery operation of those stranded, which will commence once Ben-Gurion Airport reopens.
In the first phase, the airline is preparing to operate recovery flights from its primary gateways, El AL stated.
These include United States gateways in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles; Far East gateways in Bangkok and Phuket; European gateways in Larnaca, Athens, Rome, Milan, Paris, Budapest, Tbilisi, Sofia, Warsaw, Bucharest, Madrid, London, Barcelona, Geneva, Amsterdam, Munich, and Zurich.
“Flights will open for sale to the general public only after all El Al and Sun D’Or customers have been brought home,” the airline added.
Ryanair prioritizing repatriating its customers in Jordan, CEO says
Ryanair’s priority is repatriating its customers from Jordan, and it does not have much spare capacity to help with other repatriations, but will try to help where possible, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said on Tuesday.
“Certainly, wherever we can help with repatriations, we would try to be helpful,” he told a news conference in Warsaw. “But our focus is our customers who are currently stranded in Jordan.”
Reuters contributed to this report.