After 40 days of severe disruptions for travelers due to the war with Iran, Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, the country’s main international gateway, is being fully reopened.

Israeli airlines are working at full speed to reinstate their regular schedules by increasing flight frequencies and seat sales, gearing up to meet bursting demand as Israelis eagerly plan vacations in the spring and peak summer months after a prolonged war period.

However, with foreign carriers not seen rushing back to resume takeoffs and landings as they await the outcome of the two-week truce with Iran announced Tuesday overnight, and with Israeli airlines struggling to fill the vacuum, vacationers who haven’t booked yet or had their previously planned flights canceled are again bracing for exorbitant airfares.

“The airfares of Israeli airlines are already skyrocketing because of expectations of strong travel demand in the coming weeks and especially during the summer months,” Yoni Waxman, deputy chairman of Ophir Tours, told The Times of Israel. “Prices are very high because of the low capacity of seats currently available for the upcoming period relative to the demand for bookings.”

Over the past two and a half years, as Israel has fought wars with the Hamas terror group, Iran, and foes on other fronts, travelers to and from Tel Aviv have grown used to expensive plane tickets due to foreign airlines repeatedly suspending flight services and leaving Israeli carriers with sparse competition.

“Now airfares will be even higher as the Iran war sent global oil prices and jet fuel costs soaring in recent weeks,” said Waxman.

When war broke out with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Israel’s airspace was shut to most commercial traffic, including foreign airlines.

Due to the imposed aviation restrictions, Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia, Israir, and Air Haifa had to cancel their regular flight schedules and operate a sharply reduced emergency schedule, mainly to repatriate citizens stuck abroad and help travelers stranded inside the country leave. The restrictions at Ben Gurion Airport upended travel plans for tens of thousands of Israelis.

“Israelis are eager to go on vacation; they feel stifled after a prolonged period of war,........

© The Times of Israel