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

Ryanair said on Tuesday 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.

Ryanair’s move is estimated to impact 22 routes and almost a million seats.

“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 said 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 continued.

“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 added.

In September, Ryanair 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 the suspension of flight services to Israel through October 25.

In addition, Ryanair is demanding a guarantee from the Israel Airport Authority (IAA) that in the future it will keep Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 1 open. The terminal, which is mainly used by low-cost and budget airlines, has repeatedly been closed during the war period, forcing them to use the more expensive Terminal 3.

“We regret to see that Ryanair continues to try to convince the public that there is a ‘problem’ in Israel – when the only problem is the company’s refusal to operate the flights it has committed to,” the IAA said in an emailed response. “All the slots Ryanair requested for the winter of 2025-2026 have been fully granted, and the flights are scheduled to depart from Terminal 1 – just as is the case with other low-cost airlines.”

“The terminal is open, functioning properly, and ready to receive Ryanair passengers tomorrow morning,” the IAA added.

The airport authority said a letter sent to Ryanair a week ago clarified that it will not comply with the low-cost carrier’s demands for preferential conditions over other international airlines.

“As many foreign carriers have already proven,  it is possible to fly to Israel, even from Terminal 1, without turning it into a drama,” the IAA said. “We would be pleased to see Ryanair also choose facts over headlines.”

Since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out in October 2023, foreign airlines have repeatedly canceled and resumed their flights to and from Israel.

Ryanair last canceled its services after a ballistic missile from Yemen impacted within the airport grounds on May 4, along with most foreign airlines. The Houthi missile impacted in a grove of trees alongside an access road close to Terminal 3, several hundred meters from the airport control tower.

The ongoing security situation, which has included rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, and Iraq, and a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic, has led to Israeli airlines, chiefly El Al, operating at a near-monopoly on some routes and setting exorbitant ticket prices.