U.S. Military Aircraft Removal Speeds Up, Clearing Summer Flight Cancellation Threat

Israel’s Transport Ministry said Friday morning that it has reached understandings with the U.S. military to accelerate the removal of American aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport. The move is expected to eliminate the remaining risk of more than 200,000 ticket cancellations for July and August, after an earlier phase had already eased fears over more than 2.4 million tickets.

According to the ministry, 15 American aircraft have already been moved out of Ben Gurion Airport since June 16, when the first breakthrough in the crisis was reached. Under the new arrangement, another 30 aircraft will be transferred gradually by Tuesday to air force bases around Israel, followed later by an additional batch of 20 aircraft.

Israel also committed that if the security situation worsens, the American aircraft will be able to return to Ben Gurion Airport within about 72 hours. The crisis began after dozens of U.S. refueling and transport planes were stationed at the airport, taking up a large share of parking capacity needed for civilian aircraft.

In recent weeks, the Israel Airports Authority had warned that without removing the aircraft, airlines might be forced to reduce summer and High Holidays schedules. At one stage, it estimated that more than 2.4 million tickets could be canceled.