From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Transportation Ministry okays plan to gradually reopen airspace starting overnight Wednesday-Thursday
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
Transportation Minister Miri Regev approves a gradual reopening plan of Israel’s airspace overnight Wednesday to Thursday to help bring home tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad.
“Our mission is to bring back Israelis safely,” Regev says at a press conference. “Our plan is subject to security developments.”
Regev says the plan entails being “able to return about 10,000 passengers a day.”
No passengers will be allowed on the planes that leave Ben Gurion Airport, which will be designated for the repatriation of Israelis abroad, to prevent crowding at the terminal and to reduce risks.
Under the proposed plan, Ben Gurion Airport will operate 24 hours a day and will open in a controlled manner. In the first 24 hours, the entry of one passenger aircraft per hour carrying about 200 passengers will be allowed. After that, the plan allows two planes, or one wide-body plane, every hour, if security and operational conditions permit.
Israel Airports Authority CEO Sharon Kedmi estimates that it will take between one week to 10 days to repatriate Israelis stranded abroad, assuming no changes in security developments.
The Times of Israel Community.