Ben Gurion parking crunch could trigger mass flight cancellations, including Uman trips

Transportation Minister Miri Regev sent an urgent letter on Sunday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that, without an immediate solution to the parking shortage at Ben Gurion Airport, more than 2.4 million tickets could be canceled during the summer season and the Tishrei holidays. She said the fallout could also affect thousands of Breslov Hasidim planning to fly to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

The warning comes ahead of Tuesday, when the Airports Authority is expected to tell airlines to reduce operations and cancel flights if the severe shortage of aircraft parking stands is not resolved. Regev said the problem stems from American refueling aircraft parked at Ben Gurion and Ramon airports, which take up a large share of the available space. Airports Authority chief Sharon Kedmi had already warned days earlier that without immediate intervention airlines would have to start notifying passengers of cancellations, possibly affecting as many as one in four travelers.

In her letter, Regev wrote that on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, the Airports Authority must formally tell Israeli airlines to inform customers about the cancellation of more than 2.4 million tickets for the summer and holiday period. She said the damage would amount to billions of shekels for airlines, the tourism industry, and the wider economy, and warned it could hurt Israel’s standing as a flight destination. She also said mass cancellations during a period when Israelis need “rest and normalcy” would damage “national morale and civic resilience.”

Regev said she understands talks with the United States are underway to try to move the aircraft elsewhere, but that this cannot be done immediately. She therefore called for some of the refueling planes to be transferred to Air Force bases to free parking for civilian aviation. According to her letter, about 72 refueling aircraft are parked at Ben Gurion, taking more than half the parking capacity, and about 26 more are parked at Ramon, occupying roughly 90 percent of the available stands there. This is her second letter on the issue in less than three weeks, after she already pressed Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the acting head of the National Security Council at the end of May to accelerate the removal of the refueling planes. In the new letter, she issued an explicit ultimatum, saying that if half the refueling aircraft are not moved by Tuesday, the government will have to tell more than 2 million citizens that their summer flights, including the Breslov trip to Uman, are canceled. She also urged Netanyahu to instruct the Air Force to move some of its aircraft to civilian landing strips, and said the Airports Authority is willing to provide sites including Rosh Pina, Megiddo, Sde Teiman, and Ein Yahav.