Arkia scraps all flights from Aqaba until further notice amid change in Jordanian policy

Israeli airline Arkia was forced to cancel all flight operations from Jordan’s Aqaba airport until further notice after local authorities announced a sudden change of policy leaving hundreds of Israelis rerouted or having to return home.

Arkia says Jordanian authorities unexpectedly decided not to approve flights from the airport, which the airline operates by chartering European aircraft. The abrupt decision left hundreds of Israelis scheduled to depart from Aqaba to Bangkok and destinations in Europe stranded at the airport today.

Arkia says passengers scheduled to depart to Bangkok are being rerouted and will depart from Aqaba on two separate flights chartered this afternoon by Jordan Aviation to Larnaca in Cyprus, where they will join connecting flights to Bangkok later today.

Passengers on the Arkia chartered flight that was scheduled to depart from Aqaba to Athens will be transferred to Egypt’s Taba airport. Arkia says its representatives are waiting for passengers at the exit of the Aqaba terminal to take them to buses that will get them to Taba airport, from where the flight to Athens is expected to take off at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, an Arkia flight scheduled to depart from Aqaba to Budapest has been canceled. Passengers who arrived at the Aqaba airport will be returned by shuttles to the land border crossing with Jordan, the airline says.

The Arkia flight from Aqaba to Rome, which was scheduled to depart at 21:20, is also canceled. Passengers are asked not to arrive at Israel’s land border crossing with Jordan.

With the decision to nix Arkia’s flight operations from Aqaba, which use European aircraft, Jordanian authorities appear to be prioritizing local carriers over other airlines.

In recent days, Arkia has been transferring some of its outgoing flights from Israel to depart from airports in Aqaba and Egypt’s Taba as an alternative to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport due to Israeli airspace restrictions amid the war with Iran.

Both airports are located near Israel’s land border crossings with Egypt and Jordan, where thousands of Israelis were seen gathering in long queues in the days leading up to the Passover holiday, which starts Wednesday evening.