Transportation Minister Miri Regev on Tuesday evening approved a framework to restart operations at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport in a controlled and phased manner from Wednesday night as Israel seeks to bring home some 100,000 of its citizens stranded abroad.

The country’s airspace has been shut since Saturday, when Israel and the US launched a major joint military strike on Iran and the Islamic Republic responded with barrages of missile fire.

“Our mission is to bring back Israelis safely,” Regev said at a press conference. “According to the outline from the second day of the operation, we will be able to return about 10,000 passengers a day.”

Under the presented framework, Ben Gurion Airport will operate 24 hours a day and will open in a controlled manner. In the first 24 hours, one passenger aircraft per hour carrying about 200 people will be permitted. After that, the frequency will be increased to two narrow-body aircraft every hour, or one wide-body, if security and operational conditions permit.

“This means that at the peak of activity after 24 hours, if everything goes as it should and there are no security changes, we will be able to return about 10,000 passengers to Israel a day,” said Regev.

Israel Airports Authority CEO Sharon Kedmi said that assuming there are no interruptions, Israelis stranded abroad will be home within a week to 10 days.

As of now, no passengers will be allowed on planes that leave Ben Gurion Airport and are designated for the repatriation of Israelis abroad to prevent crowding, shorten the time spent at the terminal, and reduce risks. Regev said outgoing civilian air traffic will be assessed in accordance with security........

© The Times of Israel