Flight cancellations feared after Ben Gurion missile hit

Planes headed for Tel Aviv turned around and others waiting to take-off disembarked passengers. El Al's share price has jumped.

A missile fired from Yemen landed on Ben Gurion Airport this morning - an unprecedented event at Israel’s main airport, just outside Tel Aviv. All take-offs and landings were immediately halted. Planes on their way to Ben Gurion turned around.

Air India brought its plane back to Delhi. Air Europa disembarked passengers from a plane at Madrid Airport that was due to fly to Israel. The airline is offering an alternative flight next week, a credit voucher, or return of the fare paid.

RELATED ARTICLES

According to the arrivals board at Ben Gurion Airport, Austrian Airlines has cancelled all flights to Israel until tomorrow, Swiss and Brussels Airlines have each cancelled one flight, and Lufthansa has cancelled five flights. Nevertheless, the Lufthansa Group, which consists of Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and Austrian, has not published any official announcement on changes in its activity following the missile hit at Ben Gurion.

Italian airline ITA has cancelled two flights to Rome. Passengers who boarded an Air France flight to Tel Aviv have reportedly disembarked before take-off.

Since the missile landed, air traffic at Ben Gurion has restarted, and most of the planes that turned around have resumed their original routes and headed for the airport as planned. As for take-offs, there are disruptions and delays, and roads to Ben Gurion are jammed with traffic.

Meanwhile, the share prices of Israeli airlines are on the rise, with El Al up 6.5% and Israir up 3%.

So far, EASA, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, has not published a warning about Israeli air space, which it did last September, when such a warning led to a wave of flight cancellations, and a situation in which fewer than twenty airlines were active in Israel. The US aviation authorities too have not so far warned against flying to Israel. If that changes, extensive flight cancellations can be expected.

In March this year, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebels in Yemen said, "Ben Gurion Airport is in danger, and will remain that way. Our forces warn all airlines that Ben Gurion Airport has become unsafe for air traffic, and will remain so until the aggression against Gaza ends and the blockade is removed."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 4, 2025.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.