Preparations are underway in Israel for the gradual resumption of outbound flights on Monday, with local airlines publishing destinations to which they will fly, subject to the approval of state authorities.
The flights, which will have a strict limit of 50 passengers per plane, will allow stuck foreigners to return to their home countries for the first time since the outbreak of war with Iran on June 13, and offer Israelis who need to leave the country a chance to do so.
The move comes after Transportation Minister Miri Regev announced on Thursday that Israeli airlines will be able to operate departure flights from Ben Gurion Airport to help Israelis in need to leave the country and allow tourists and diplomats to return home.
Israel closed its airspace when it began attacking Iran’s nuclear program on June 13, leaving some 40,000 tourists stranded in the country with no way to get home. More than 100,000 Israelis were abroad when the operation began, and have been scrambling for a way to get back home since.
Ticket purchases for departing flights starting Monday will be open to all passengers and will not, as had initially been announced by Regev, be subject to approval from a government-led exceptions committee.
Priority will nevertheless be given to life-saving, humanitarian, and national security cases, the Transportation Ministry said late Saturday.
“Departing passengers will only be able to purchase a return flight ticket to Israel for a date that is at least 30 days away,” the Transportation Ministry said. “This is to enable us to have a solution for Israeli citizens who went abroad before the Operation Rising Lion against Iran, and are waiting to return to Israel.”
For now, El Al said it plans to operate flights to eight major destinations: Larnaca, Athens, Rome, Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Bangkok.
For this purpose, the flag carrier has opened a registration list on its website for departures from Ben Gurion Airport. The airline emphasized that the registration is not a reservation or seat confirmation.
The departures will be subject to the new outbound travel policy by state authorities.
Passengers are asked to fill out the registration form on the El Al website and identify the destination they wish to fly to. Once passengers fill out the form, they will be updated via email about the next steps.
Any customers who had departure flights booked with El Al or its subsidiary Sun D’or which were canceled due to the conflict with Iran will be able to fly out at no additional cost.
Meanwhile, smaller carrier Israir said it was preparing to sell a very limited number of seats on outward flights from Ben Gurion Airport to a few destinations in Europe, including Athens, Larnaca, Tbilisi, Budapest, and Rome. As with flights operated by El Al, they will be subject to the guidelines laid out by the Transportation Ministry.
Departure flight tickets will be made available for purchase on the company’s website. Israir did not provide further details about the start of ticket sales, which were not yet available on its site.
Arkia said it is making preparations for outward flights to Athens, Larnaca, Batumi, Barcelona, Vienna, and New York, subject to the approval of state and aviation authorities.
Israel’s airspace was closed for takeoff and landing on June 13 as the Israeli Air Force began striking Iran’s nuclear installations and military facilities, prompting waves of retaliatory ballistic missile fire from Iran.
On Wednesday, Israeli airlines kicked off a government-led mission to help bring Israeli citizens home on repatriation flights from destinations in Europe, the US, and the Far East.
As part of the air mission, no more than two flights per hour are permitted to land at Ben Gurion Airport and only during daylight hours, since most Iranian missile barrages have come at night. In recent days, more than 50,000 Israelis are estimated to have returned to Israel via air travel, by sea, and via land border crossings from Egypt and Jordan, according to the Transportation Ministry.
At the same time, Israel has barred foreigners or Israeli citizens from leaving the country via air travel, saying that the restrictions are in place to avoid overcrowding and minimize the time planes spend on the ground at Ben Gurion Airport due to security risks, and Home Front Command guidelines limiting the congregation of people.
The international airport has been a frequent target of missile attacks.
Most recently, in May, a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck inside the airport grounds, injuring six people and causing several foreign airlines to cancel service.