Israel, U.S. Reach Deal to Speed Up Removal of American Aircraft From Ben Gurion Airport

Israel’s Transportation Ministry said Friday that the last major threat to summer flight schedules has been removed after Israel reached understandings with the U.S. military on accelerating the evacuation of American aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport.

The agreement is expected to eliminate the risk to more than 200,000 flight tickets in July and August. About a week and a half ago, Israel had already eased fears of cancellations involving more than 2.4 million tickets, but a smaller risk to peak-season flights remained until this new deal. Officials now say the crisis should end completely.

Under the arrangement, 30 American aircraft will be moved gradually to air force bases across Israel by Tuesday, with 20 more to be removed later, for a total of 50 planes over two weeks. Since June 16, when the first breakthrough in the crisis was reached, 15 American aircraft have already been taken out of the airport.

Israel also committed that if the security situation worsens, the American planes can return to Ben Gurion within about 72 hours. The crisis began after dozens of U.S. refueling and transport planes occupied substantial parking capacity at the airport, prompting warnings that airlines might have to cut summer and High Holiday schedules. The reopening of Terminal 1 recently also helped relieve congestion, and Ben Gurion has since recorded a passenger traffic high since the start of Operation Rising Lion, with more than 75,000 international passengers in one day.