Ben Gurion Airport expected to close as workers stage surprise stoppage on biggest travel day of year

Staff at Ben Gurion Airport have left posts unmanned at the height of the travel season, in an apparent surprise strike amid workers’ complaints of insufficient personnel to handle the passengers.

Pilots and airlines have been notified that the airport would close at 2 p.m. because of the work stoppage, according to Hebrew media. At least one flight has already had to make a U-turn midair and dozens more are expected to, according to the reports.

In a statement, the Israel Airports Authority demands employees return to work and threatens legal action against the airport workers union. Transportation Ministry officials quoted by the Ynet news site say that “heads will roll and workers will go home” if the work stoppage is indeed a strike.

A record 107,000 travelers aboard 600 flights are expected to use the airport today — the highest number in the past year. The departure hall is packed with passengers waiting to go through security and check-in, footage shows.

"אירוע משבר" בנתב"ג – עמדות הצ'ק אין נסגרו, המזוודות תקועות, תורי ענק באולם הנוסעים והשדה מושבת למעשה.
ברשות שדות התעופה מאשימים בהשבתה את ועד העובדים שלא מגיב.

במקביל, שרת התחבורה מירי רגב ובכירים מהמשרד נמצאים בחופשה פרטית במרוקו.https://t.co/5Dvi7ivkXA pic.twitter.com/UZsErw5MNc

— כלכליסט | Calcalist (@calcalist) August 20, 2026

The work stoppage comes a day after Transportation Minister Miri Regev, top ministry officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the airport to meet with workers and travelers, according to a statement from the IAA yesterday.

Regev and top Transportation Ministry officials left Israel yesterday on a seven-day trip to Morocco, which her spokesman Dudu Sassi described to market daily TheMarker as “private.” Ministry sources cited by the newspaper said Regev and her entourage would visit rabbis’ tombs.