Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s primary international gateway, was shut down on February 28, 2026, following joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iranian targets. The closure stranded approximately 120,000 Israelis abroad and halted all commercial air traffic in and out of the country. A limited, phased reopening began on March 2 with inbound repatriation flights only, and by March 8, the first outbound flights since the closure were permitted under severe wartime restrictions — including passenger caps as low as 70 per flight and a maximum of two narrow-body departures per hour. The reopening has been anything but smooth.
On March 9, chaos erupted at the airport when passengers holding valid tickets were denied boarding after the Transportation Ministry raised the passenger cap from 100 to 200 overnight, then reversed it back to 100 the same morning. Police were called to manage the situation at check-in counters. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued multiple security alerts advising American citizens about rapidly shifting conditions on the ground. This article covers the full timeline of the closure and reopening, the security restrictions governing flights, the impact on international carriers, and what travelers need to know going forward.
Table of Contents
- Why Was Ben Gurion Airport Closed and How Did the Reopening Unfold?
- What Security Restrictions Are Governing Flights at Ben Gurion?
- The El Al Flight That Had to Abort Its Landing
- How International Airlines and Governments Are Responding
- The Chaos of Shifting Passenger Caps and Wartime Bureaucracy
- What This Means for the 120,000 Stranded Israelis
- What Comes Next for Israeli Air Travel
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Was Ben Gurion Airport Closed and How Did the Reopening Unfold?
The closure on February 28 was a direct consequence of escalating military operations between israel and Iran. Joint U.S.-israeli strikes on Iranian targets prompted an immediate shutdown of Israeli airspace, grounding all commercial aviation. For several days, Ben Gurion sat silent — a jarring image for one of the world’s busiest regional airports. The 120,000 Israelis stranded abroad faced uncertainty about when, or how, they would get home. The first crack in the closure came on the evening of March 2, when a limited reopening allowed inbound repatriation flights to land.
By March 4, a phased reopening commenced under strict NOTAM mandates, with traffic limited to just one or two aircraft movements per hour. This was not a return to normal — it was a carefully controlled trickle of flights under wartime conditions. On the first day of repatriation flights, approximately 3,500 Israelis were flown home, but the process was overshadowed by ongoing Iranian missile alerts that kept the entire operation on a knife’s edge. It is worth noting that the pace of reopening was dictated not by airline readiness or passenger demand, but by real-time military threat assessments. The Israel Airports Authority published a Q&A page addressing the 2026 security situation, but the answers changed almost daily as conditions on the ground shifted.
What Security Restrictions Are Governing Flights at Ben Gurion?
The restrictions in place during the phased reopening are among the most severe ever imposed on a major international airport during active operations. Departures are capped at two narrow-body aircraft per hour. Passenger loads are limited to between 70 and 100 passengers per flight, depending on the airline and aircraft type — a fraction of normal capacity for planes that typically carry 180 or more. All arrivals required Prior Permission, known as PPR, through at least March 9, meaning no flight could approach Israeli airspace without advance military clearance. However, these restrictions are not static, and that unpredictability has created its own problems.
The March 9 incident at Ben Gurion illustrates the danger of shifting rules in a wartime environment. The Transportation Ministry’s decision to raise the passenger cap to 200, only to reverse it hours later, left airlines scrambling and passengers stranded at the gate. If you hold a ticket for a flight out of Ben Gurion during this period, there is no guarantee the rules in place when you booked will be the rules in place when you arrive at the airport. Only Israeli carriers — El Al, Israir, and Arkia — are currently operating, serving more than 30 destinations across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Foreign carriers have largely pulled out entirely, which means capacity is a fraction of what it would normally be even without the passenger caps.
The El Al Flight That Had to Abort Its Landing
One of the most harrowing incidents during the reopening occurred around March 5, when an El Al flight arriving from Tbilisi, Georgia, was forced to abort its landing at Ben Gurion just moments before touchdown. An Iranian rocket and missile attack alert triggered the abort, and the aircraft circled for approximately 20 minutes before it was cleared to land safely. No injuries were reported, but the incident underscored the very real dangers that pilots, crew, and passengers face during what is effectively a wartime air corridor. This was not a theoretical risk assessment — it was a live demonstration of why the restrictions exist.
The abort happened during a period when the airport was technically open for business, which raises difficult questions about the threshold at which an airport should be considered safe enough for commercial operations. For passengers on that Tbilisi flight, the experience was a stark reminder that flying into or out of Israel during active hostilities carries risks that no amount of security theater can fully mitigate. The incident also highlighted the burden on Israeli carriers, which are the only airlines willing to operate under these conditions. El Al has long maintained enhanced security and missile defense systems on its aircraft, but even those measures have limits when rockets are inbound during final approach.
How International Airlines and Governments Are Responding
The divergence between Israeli carriers and foreign airlines tells a significant story. While El Al, Israir, and Arkia resumed limited operations, the Lufthansa Group — which includes Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines — extended its suspension of all Tel Aviv flights until April 2, 2026. That decision reflects a fundamentally different risk calculus. Israeli carriers are operating under national imperative to keep their country connected; European carriers have no such obligation and face different regulatory and insurance pressures. The U.S.
Embassy in Jerusalem has been issuing rolling security alerts — on March 2, 8, 9, and 10 — advising American citizens about the situation. These alerts stop short of ordering Americans not to fly, but they make clear that conditions are volatile and subject to rapid change. For American travelers weighing their options, the tradeoff is stark: wait for conditions to stabilize with no clear timeline, or attempt to fly on an Israeli carrier under heavy restrictions with the understanding that missile alerts could disrupt operations at any moment. Other governments have issued similar advisories. The practical effect is that Ben Gurion is functioning as a semi-closed airport — technically open, but operating under conditions that most international carriers and many foreign governments consider too risky for routine commercial aviation.
The Chaos of Shifting Passenger Caps and Wartime Bureaucracy
The scene at Ben Gurion on March 9 deserves closer examination because it reveals a systemic problem with managing civilian aviation during an active military conflict. The Transportation Ministry’s decision to raise the passenger cap from 100 to 200 was presumably made to accelerate the movement of stranded travelers. But reversing that decision the same morning — after airlines had already begun boarding based on the higher cap — created exactly the kind of confusion that erodes public trust in an already fragile system. Passengers who had followed every instruction, purchased valid tickets, arrived at the airport, and cleared security were told at the gate that they could not board. Police were called to manage the resulting anger and frustration.
This is not a minor logistical hiccup. For people trying to leave a country under missile attack, being denied boarding after being told they had a seat is a serious failure of coordination between military authorities, civil aviation regulators, and airlines. The warning for travelers is clear: during wartime operations, a confirmed ticket is not a guaranteed seat. Passenger caps, flight schedules, and even the airport’s operational status can change with little or no notice. Anyone planning to fly through Ben Gurion during this period should prepare for the possibility of last-minute cancellations or boarding denials, and should have contingency plans — including alternative departure points and extended accommodations — ready.
What This Means for the 120,000 Stranded Israelis
The scale of the stranding — 120,000 Israelis abroad when airspace closed on February 28 — is enormous. At the pace of 3,500 repatriations per day, and with capacity limited by the two-departures-per-hour restriction and 70-to-100 passenger caps, simple arithmetic suggests that clearing the backlog will take weeks, not days.
That assumes no further closures, no escalation in hostilities, and no additional disruptions like the March 5 missile-alert abort. For stranded Israelis, the situation has been compounded by the fact that many were abroad for routine travel — business, tourism, family visits — and did not anticipate being unable to return home for an extended period. Extended hotel stays, expired visas in host countries, and the psychological toll of being separated from family during a military conflict are all part of the human cost that raw flight statistics do not capture.
What Comes Next for Israeli Air Travel
The trajectory of Ben Gurion’s reopening depends almost entirely on the trajectory of the military conflict with Iran. If hostilities de-escalate, restrictions will likely ease and foreign carriers will begin returning — though the Lufthansa Group’s April 2 target date suggests that even optimistic projections put a return to anything resembling normal operations at least a month away.
If the conflict escalates or if a missile strike damages airport infrastructure, all bets are off. Israel’s aviation authorities have demonstrated a willingness to keep the airport operating under extraordinary conditions, but there are limits to what any civilian airport can sustain during active hostilities. For now, Ben Gurion remains open in the narrowest sense of the word — a lifeline for stranded citizens, but a far cry from the bustling international hub it was just two weeks ago.
Conclusion
Ben Gurion Airport’s closure and halting reopening represent one of the most significant disruptions to civilian aviation in the Middle East in decades. The combination of wartime airspace restrictions, fluctuating passenger caps, real-time missile threats during landing approaches, and the withdrawal of nearly all foreign carriers has created conditions that test the limits of what a functioning airport looks like. The March 9 boarding chaos and the March 5 aborted landing are not isolated incidents — they are symptoms of a system operating under impossible constraints.
For travelers, the takeaway is to treat any plans involving Ben Gurion as provisional until the security situation stabilizes. Monitor U.S. Embassy alerts, check the Israel Airports Authority’s published guidance, and be prepared for disruptions at every stage of the journey. For the 120,000 Israelis who were stranded abroad, the slow pace of repatriation under wartime caps is a painful reality that underscores just how profoundly military conflict can upend civilian life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ben Gurion Airport currently open for flights?
As of early March 2026, Ben Gurion is operating under a highly restricted phased reopening. Both inbound and outbound flights are running, but only on Israeli carriers (El Al, Israir, Arkia) with severe passenger caps and limited departures per hour.
Can American citizens fly out of Ben Gurion Airport right now?
Flights are available on Israeli carriers, but the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has issued multiple security alerts advising Americans about volatile conditions. A confirmed ticket does not guarantee boarding, as passenger caps have changed with little notice.
Why are foreign airlines not flying to Tel Aviv?
Most foreign carriers, including the entire Lufthansa Group, have suspended Tel Aviv service due to the security situation. Lufthansa’s suspension extends through at least April 2, 2026. Different airlines apply different risk thresholds, and insurance and regulatory considerations also play a role.
How many passengers can fly per flight from Ben Gurion?
Current restrictions cap passengers at 70 to 100 per flight depending on the airline and aircraft, with a maximum of two narrow-body departures per hour. These numbers have fluctuated and can change on short notice.
What happened with the El Al flight that aborted its landing?
Around March 5, an El Al flight from Tbilisi was forced to abort its landing at Ben Gurion due to an Iranian rocket and missile attack alert. The plane circled for approximately 20 minutes before landing safely. No injuries were reported.
How long will it take to bring home all 120,000 stranded Israelis?
At the current pace of roughly 3,500 repatriations per day under wartime capacity restrictions, clearing the full backlog could take several weeks — assuming no further disruptions or closures.