El Al reviewing operations and calls for opening of Ramon Airport, after government limits traffic

El Al Israel Airlines said on Monday it was reviewing its operations after the Transportation Ministry ordered a reduction of traffic at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

Israel’s flag carrier, which has been operating repatriation flights since the outbreak of the air war with Iran on February 28, called on authorities to open Ramon Airport near the Red Sea city of Eilat as an alternative to Ben Gurion.

Late on Sunday after a security assessment, Transportation Minister Miri Regev opted to scale back the number of takeoffs and landings from Ben Gurion “in order to prevent potential risk to human life”.

While Israel’s air defences have intercepted more than 90% of Iranian missiles fired at Israel, there were two failures on Saturday night that led to scores of civilian injuries in two Israeli southern towns.

Regev said the decision to limit flights to just one incoming flight with no passenger limit and one outgoing flight with up to 50 passengers per hour came after more than 140,000 people have already flown back to Israel.

El Al said it was examining the implications of the new framework. “The company is working to formulate a reduced operating format that will allow the continuation of essential activity to maintain an air bridge to and from Israel,” it said.

“At the same time, El Al is calling for the opening of Ramon Airport as a complementary alternative to Ben Gurion Airport, in order to preserve aviation activity and provide a solution for passengers”.

A more than four-hour drive from Tel Aviv, Ramon is close to Eilat, which borders Aqaba, Jordan and Taba, Egypt where other Israeli carriers have been operating some flights.

Israeli’s Arkia Airlines said it was shifting the majority of its operations to Aqaba and Taba. Its flights to New York, Bangkok and Hanoi will operate at full capacity from Aqaba but will still fly to and from Ben Gurion to Larnaca and Athens.

“Under the current framework, it is not possible to maintain regular aviation operations, and in practice it amounts to the closure of Israel’s skies,” said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz.

“The company cannot be required to choose between passengers who have already purchased tickets, and therefore we are preparing to shift most of our operations to Aqaba and Taba airports, in order to maintain aviation continuity as much as possible.”