Airport chief says flights slowly returning to normal, but ‘it will be a complicated day’

Ben Gurion Airport Director General Udi Bar Oz tells reporters that the flight schedule is slowly returning to normal after services were disrupted amid the IDF’s preemptive strikes and Hezbollah’s rocket attack early this morning.

He says 310 international flights are scheduled for the day, with over 50,000 passengers, using Israeli airlines and some 20 foreign airlines “which are continuing to fly [to and from Israel] today, tomorrow and the day after that.” He says some foreign airlines canceled flights today, and that they are being contacted to establish when they will resume. He says the flight schedule is being “stabilized” after the two-hour airport closure between 5:20 and 7:00 this morning.

“It will be a complicated day but it’s under control. Most of the flights will depart… As the day progresses, the delays will be reduced,” he says.

“We suggest passengers keep updated with their airline companies and come to the airport three hours before their flight,” he says.