Amid war fears, at Ben Gurion Airport, it’s business as usual — just less of it
On a Sunday, after some 18 international carriers cancelled services to the Jewish state in anticipation of escalating hostilities, Israel’s main airport was quieter than usual
Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel
On Sunday afternoon, at the usually bustling Ben Gurion Airport arrivals hall, the crowds were noticeably sparse. A few groups of families and friends waited to greet arriving passengers, who came through the automatic double doors from the baggage claim in a steady, but thin, stream.
“There’s a lot fewer people, because of all the canceled flights,” explained Yoav, a taxi driver hoping to catch a fare. He had come to the airport anyway, he said, after a regular client, “a big family,” could not arrive because of a canceled flight from Europe.
Since last week’s double assassinations of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut, claimed by Israel, and of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran safe house controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, an event not officially claimed by Israel, more than 18 airlines have canceled or suspended their flights to and from Ben Gurion, in light of the potentially escalating security situation.
This has left some 100,000 Israelis stranded abroad with no quick or easy way to get home, according to a Channel 12 report from Saturday. Travelers stuck overseas were advised to travel to Greece or Cyprus and catch a flight back to Israel, and Israel’s national carrier El Al announced Sunday a series of discounted, one-way flights home from Athens and Larnaca.
Those extra flights had yet to make an impact at Ben Gurion, as the arrivals hall remained quiet and subdued, except for a group of Russian-speaking youth in one corner, just arrived on a Birthright program, who sang and cheered as they made their way outside. A few families waited with balloons, and some arrivals were greeted with welcoming hugs.
Next to the exit, Alexia, a young woman just arrived from Paris, said that she had come “to visit family in Eilat.” Because of security concerns, she said, her connecting flight from Ben Gurion to Eilat had been canceled, which she had not realized until she arrived.
“I’ll just go to friends in Netanya instead, for now,” she said pragmatically.
Outside, two buddies, Hagai and Lior, were smoking cigarettes before returning to their homes. They had been on a few days’ vacation in Cyprus — “to get away from it all” – and had not changed their plans because of security issues, although their airline had unexpectedly advanced their return flight by several hours, without explanation.
“It’s good to be back,” Lior said, explaining that they both were married with young children. Even on vacation, he said, “you hear the news, you wonder if something will happen back home.”
“There were no problems, no complaints,” said Yaakov, an elderly man who spoke Hebrew with a heavy Russian accent. He was sitting nearby with his wife and their luggage, resting after their flight from London.
The only difference the security situation had made to their travel plans was an extra stop in Larnaca on the return leg to change crews, a policy recently introduced by British Airways on its London to Israel flights, but that “was only for an hour,” he said mildly.
No hustle and no bustle in departures
Sunday, the start of the work week in Israel, is usually a big travel day, but upstairs in the departures area, the normal bustle was also greatly reduced. Travelers sped through the long, winding ropes of the check-in lines, which, during the busy summer season, can threaten to overflow.
In the center of the enormous room, some crowded around the computerized list of flights, the cancellations and delays showing up in red and yellow, respectively.
Omer and Shaked, a young couple, were on their way to the Philippines via Dubai, for a long-planned, three-week adventure. Not finding their outgoing flight on the board, they went off in search of an airport official to help them.
“We hope there won’t be problems coming back,” Shaked said, when asked about the possibility of more canceled flights. “We’ll just take it day by day.”
Iris, a soft-spoken lady with curling blond hair, was traveling with her husband and son to Sweden, where they were to rendezvous with family living in Europe for a reunion. They had planned the trip some time ago, but made sure to get tickets with El Al, she said, “because we knew they wouldn’t cancel flights if something happened.”
Sitting in a circle nearby were a group of Indian workers who were trying to get home. Shailesh, their boss, was the only one who spoke English or Hebrew. He explained that they worked for an Indian company that runs a paper recycling facility in the northern city of Hadera.
“Air India canceled their flight back. They rescheduled, but the new flight is after their three-month work visas expire,” he said, so he brought them down to the airport today to meet with an Air India official and arrange for them to return somehow. They had been waiting patiently for several hours already, he added.
“We stand with Israel, the Israel-India friendship is very good,” he made a point of saying.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which for months has threatened to escalate into a larger, more direct conflict with Hezbollah in the north, has played havoc with air travel to and from the Jewish state and caused a marked increase in airfares. The April attack against Israel by Iran, whose government directly sponsors both Hamas and Hezbollah, saw some 300 missiles launched directly from the Islamic Republic, with little effect. This event also caused a slew of cancellations and rescheduling by air carriers. Now Iran is threatening Israel again, blaming it for Wednesday’s assassination in Tehran of Hamas terror leader Ismail Haniyeh; Israel has not taken responsibility for that attack.
Over the last several days, multiple governments, including the US and UK, have advised their citizens to depart Lebanon in anticipation of a potential conflagration with Israel.
Despite the general air of impending conflict, no long queues of Israelis fleeing the country were seen at Ben Gurion Airport, and most travelers seemed to be going about their business in a relaxed manner.
At the departure board, two young men, Shauli and David, were looking for their flight. Sporting trendy clothing, sunglasses and black yarmulkes, they were on their way to Uman, the resting place of Hasidic master Rebbe Nachman, and had decided to make the trip at the spur of the moment, “something we have done before.”
Because Uman is in war-torn Ukraine, there are no direct flights from Israel, so the duo planned to fly to Poland and then travel onwards by bus.
“We’re going from war to war. Everything’s fine; it’s all from heaven,” David said.
