Ryanair won’t resume flights to Israel this winter, ‘fed up’ with treatment by airport

Ryanair says it will not resume operations to and from Israel in the winter due to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport’s “refusal” to grant the Irish low-cost airline its flight slots for next year’s summer season.

“We are not willing to restart loss-making flights to/from Tel Aviv for the winter season, without the certainty that our summer 2026 historic slots have been confirmed,” a Ryanair spokesperson says in an e-mailed statement.

“We are fed up having our low-fare flights repeatedly messed around by Ben Gurion Airport – it is absurd that they refused to confirm our summer 2026 slots, when summer 2026 schedules are already on sale,” the statement continues.

“We regret this means that Tel Aviv will no longer have access to Ryanair’s much lower fares, or to the 22 routes we operated last winter, but until such time as Tel Aviv are willing to honor their low-cost agreements with Ryanair, we are unwilling to restart flights there,” the spokesperson adds.

In September, Rynair Group chief executive Michael O’Leary said the low-cost carrier may not return to Israel even when violence related to the Gaza war recedes. The airline earlier this summer extended suspension of flight services to Israel through October 25.