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Israel Airports Authority

Thousands of passengers wait at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv after operations shut down on August 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
August 30, 2026, 5:00 pm
Airport meltdown gives rise to worries that Ben Gurion overcrowding may be terminal
After years of political inertia, Israel’s main gateway may soon be regularly brought to its knees by inability to cope with growing passenger numbers; experts say a second airport is needed to avert crisis
By Sharon Wrobel
The arrivals hall at Ben Gurion International Airport on August 20, 2026, during a shutdown. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
August 24, 2026, 6:17 am
Airport chaos shows Israel’s public sector collapsing under the weight of political cronyism
The bedlam at Ben Gurion was not a sudden failure, but the inevitable result of a system hollowed out by nepotism, sham tenders, and political loyalists. And the rot extends across public service
By Eran Hildesheim
Thousands of passengers wait at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv after a strike was announced, August 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
August 23, 2026, 8:24 pm
Ben Gurion Airport and workers agree to ease post-strike backlog, but next crisis looms
Airports Authority and staff to relieve airport congestion, while union still warns of shortage of hundreds of workers ahead of the busy Jewish holidays starting next month
By Sharon Wrobel
Airport union chief and Likud party member Pinchas Idan at the Elections Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, March 5, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
August 23, 2026, 2:51 am
IAA chair said looking to fire airport labor union chief over Thursday’s impromptu strike
Union chief Pinchas Idan reportedly tells labor court that the IAA has been breaching airport employees’ rights, including by routinely requiring 12-hour days, six days a week
By ToI Staff
Thousands of passengers wait at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv after a strike was announced, August 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
August 21, 2026, 9:02 am
Ben Gurion Airport is most disrupted in the world, day after wildcat labor strike
Worker walk-out, prompted by manpower shortage, drives ongoing wave of cancellations and delays, some $10m damage; Likud official alleges plot to hurt PM politically
By ToI Staff
Thousands of passengers wait at Ben Gurion International Airport during a strike, August 20, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
August 20, 2026, 5:10 pm
Wildcat labor strike brings Ben Gurion Airport to halt on busiest travel day of year
Airport back to full staffing but crowding and delays continue hours later; check-ins, arrivals were halted as workers protest personnel shortage; Netanyahu boots labor union’s leader out of Likud
By ToI Staff and Noam Lehmann
An El Al plane takes off at Ben Gurion Airport, outside Tel Aviv, August 4, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
August 14, 2026, 6:22 pm
Major delays reported at Ben Gurion Airport; officials say US refuelers’ presence a factor
Airports Authority also blames flight congestion over Greece for bottleneck, leading many passengers to report hours-long setbacks
By ToI Staff
US Air Force refueling aircraft are seen parked on the tarmac of the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on February 25, 2026. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
July 14, 2026, 6:25 pm
US halts removal of refuelers from Ben Gurion Airport, but Israel says only 20 can stay
Tens of thousands of passengers’ flight tickets could be canceled as the US military aircraft crowd out civilian planes; US said to fume at decision that harms military preparedness
By Sharon Wrobel
US Air Force refueling aircraft are seen parked on the tarmac of the Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv on February 25, 2026. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
June 24, 2026, 9:05 pm
Reduced US refuelers at Ben Gurion still put flights of 100,000 summer travelers at risk
Aviation officials demand removal of at least 15 more US tankers crowding out civilian planes at Israel’s main airport, ahead of peak July-August travel season
By Sharon Wrobel
A US Air Force aircraft takes off at the Ben Gurion International Airport, May 24, 2026. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
June 16, 2026, 9:04 pm
US said moving 20% of its refuelers from Ben Gurion Airport, easing travel pressure
Presence of 72 American aircraft in recent months is crowding out civilian planes at Tel Aviv’s international airport, threatening to ground 2.4 million summer travelers
By Sharon Wrobel
Illustrative: Passengers at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, April 9, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 12, 2026, 3:37 pm
Nine foreign airlines plan to resume Tel Aviv routes this week, amid US-Iran truce
Bluebird, TUS, Etihad, Ethiopian, Smartwings, Hainan, Red Wings, Georgian and FlyOne to restart operations to and from Ben Gurion Airport, airport authority says
By Sharon Wrobel
Passengers check-in for the first outbound flights since the closure of Israel's airspace on February 28, at Ben Gurion Airport on March 8, 2026. (Courtesy of Israel Airports Authority)
March 8, 2026, 6:26 pm
Israeli airlines launch first outbound flights from Ben Gurion since start of Iran war
Efforts to repatriate thousands of Israelis stranded in the UAE to resume as more than 15,000 return to country on 90 flights since the partial reopening of the airspace
By Sharon Wrobel
Travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport, October 23, 2025. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
January 4, 2026, 2:03 pm
Delays expected at Ben Gurion Airport after Greece shuts its airports over radio issue
Israel Airports Authority says airlines working ‘to find alternate routes’ after Greek aviation shutdown, expected to last at least until 4 p.m., empties country’s airspace
By Reuters and ToI Staff
View of an Austrian Airline flight on the airstrip at Ben Gurion Airport on August 3, 2013. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
December 17, 2025, 10:51 am
Young man stows away on flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna after eluding airport security
18-year-old manages to travel on Austrian Airlines flight without ticket, is returned to Israel upon arrival; two months ago, a different boy boarded El Al flight without documents
By ToI Staff
Israeli security forces near the scene where two Israeli soldiers were killed in a stabbing and shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, September 18, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
September 21, 2025, 4:07 pm
Jordan opens West Bank crossing three days after attack, then Israel shuts it again
Israeli authorities say they don’t know when Allenby Crossing will reopen following assault last week by aid truck driver who killed two IDF soldiers
By Emanuel Fabian, Sharon Wrobel, ToI Staff and Agencies
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