Transport Minister Warns 2.4 Million Summer Tickets Could Be Canceled Without Moving U.S. Aircraft

Transport Minister Miri Regev sent an urgent letter on Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that Israel must resolve the parking shortage at Ben Gurion Airport by Tuesday, June 16, or the Israel Airports Authority will have to tell airlines to cancel flights. She said that unless some American refueling aircraft parked at Ben Gurion and Ramon airports are removed immediately, more than 2.4 million tickets for the summer season and the High Holidays could be voided.

Regev urged moving part of the aircraft to Air Force bases or to airports outside Israel. She also warned that the disruption could affect followers of the Breslov movement planning to fly to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. In her letter, she wrote that on June 16, 2026, the Airports Authority must formally instruct Israeli airlines to notify customers of the cancellation of more than 2.4 million tickets. She said the result would be direct economic damage worth billions of shekels to airlines, tourism and the broader economy, and would hurt Israel’s image as an aviation destination.

The minister said that current talks with the United States about moving the planes to nearby countries do not appear feasible soon, and argued that the practical solution is to transfer some of the American refueling aircraft to Air Force bases. She wrote that about 72 refueling aircraft are parked at Ben Gurion, taking up more than half of the available parking capacity, while about 26 more are parked at Ramon, occupying around 90% of that airport’s parking spaces.

This was Regev’s second letter on the issue in less than three weeks. On May 26, she already asked Netanyahu, the defense minister and the acting head of the National Security Council to move the American refueling planes to Air Force bases, saying the airport parking crunch was creating a worsening operational crisis and blocking the recovery of civil aviation. In the new letter, she set a firm deadline, saying that if half the refueling aircraft are not moved by June 16, millions of Israelis will be told their summer flights, including travel to Uman, are canceled. Regev also said the Airports Authority is ready to use civilian landing strips at places such as Rosh Pina, Megiddo, Shdema Teyman and Ein Yahav. The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond.