The Ben Gurion Airport nears one week of being out of service.
An El Al 777-200 in London (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
Israel’s main international airport has been inoperable for the longest amount of time in the country’s 76-year history following airspace closures in the Middle East due to the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Israel closed Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport shortly after its strike on Iranian military and alleged nuclear enrichment sites on Thursday night. The airport has been closed to scheduled flights for over six days now.
The closure has caused trouble for Israeli travelers seeking to return to their country, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. On Tuesday, Israeli flag carrier El Al was authorized to operate flights back to Israel for citizens traveling abroad.
On Wednesday, Israeli flag carrier El Al posted a statement on social media saying its first recovery flights landed in Israel that morning.
‘More than 70,000 people have registered on our website for recovery flights,” the airline stated in its post on X. “Based on this registration, we conducted a mapping of destinations to determine where recovery flights will be operated from. Flights will be carried out gradually, subject to government approval.”
Tomorrow (Thursday), eight additional recovery flights will operate from the following destinations: Larnaca, Paphos, Budapest, Athens, Milan, Rome, and London (Luton).
We emphasize that passengers on these flights have already been assigned and will receive a notification… pic.twitter.com/wsOL5JNIKW
— EL AL USA (@ELALUSA) June 18, 2025
Ben Gurion was previously completely closed for one day on Oct. 1, 2024, due to a missile attack from Iran. As of Monday, major U.S. airlines Delta and United have also paused flights to Israel.
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