Ben-Gurion Airport Parking Crisis Eases as Dozens of Jets Are Due to Leave

Ben-Gurion Airport's parking shortage, which had threatened cancellations of about 100,000 flight tickets, made its first real progress toward a solution on Wednesday morning. In a high-level meeting, officials reported advances after pressure from both the Israel Airports Authority and Transportation Minister Miri Regev.

Under the current plan, around 20 aircraft are expected to leave Ben-Gurion Airport by the end of June. That would partially ease the parking bottleneck and remove the immediate threat to tickets scheduled for July. A full solution for August has not yet been found, and officials estimate that another 15 aircraft would need to be removed from the airport to prevent cancellations that month.

The issue was also discussed in Monday night's cabinet meeting, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened. Following that discussion, about 20 planes are expected to depart by Tuesday, in a move meant to reduce congestion at the airport.

Industry sources say the August problem is also likely to be resolved eventually, and that no flight cancellations will ultimately be needed. For now, however, the key factor is whether the aircraft actually leave, because only then will additional parking spaces open up at Ben-Gurion. The urgency comes as passenger traffic keeps rising, with the airport setting a post-war record of about 75,000 travelers in a single day on Tuesday. Officials expect even heavier traffic over the summer, as tens of thousands of Israelis head abroad for vacations.