From the Liveblog of
Friday, April 3, 2026
Starting Sunday, Israel will allow up to 90 passengers on flights leaving Ben Gurion Airport
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
The Transportation Ministry plans to increase the number of passengers allowed on departing flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport starting as early as Sunday.
According to the eased framework, an additional 20 passengers will be allowed on departing flights, currently limited to 50 per flight. Another 20 seats will be allocated for humanitarian cases, bringing the maximum to 90 passengers per flight.
The emerging framework is still not final and may be updated based on security assessments and decisions by the relevant government authorities.
The Transportation Ministry on March 23 cut the number of passengers permitted on a flight departing Ben Gurion Airport to 50 from 120 previously, after Iranian ballistic missiles targeted central and southern Israel, with multiple impacts and people injured. There are no restrictions on passenger numbers for arriving flights.
The number of takeoffs and landings at Ben Gurion Airport was restricted to one per hour as the country’s airspace remains virtually closed to regular commercial air traffic amid the ongoing war with Iran.
The Times of Israel Community.