Despite the congestion and ticket requirements, no flights will be added at Ben Gurion Airport: Although the main airport of the State of Israel is back in full operation, and even Terminal 1 is fully open, including duty free shops, and despite the many and varied attempts to shorten queues, including the fact that Ben Gurion Airport manager Performs a passenger check himself - the not-so-simple situation continues.
Zakai clarified that due to difficulties in recruiting, about 1,000 people are missing until the workforce is completed.
In his estimation, the improvement in the situation is expected to happen only on Passover next year.
Last week alone, about 300,000 passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport, and during the coming summer more than four million people are expected to leave Israel and enter it.
In recent weeks, various airlines have approached Ben Gurion Airport in order to obtain slots (take-off and landing permits at the airport; SY) to operate additional flights to and from Israel.
Ben Gurion Airport informed the airlines that it is currently not possible to approve additional flights, due to the problematic situation created at the location.
Endless load
In conversations with senior officials at the airport, they explain the refusal to add flights by the fact that the number of takeoffs and landings is already about 90% compared to the peak of 2019.
The shortage of workers is so severe that in some airlines it stands at 40% fewer workers compared to that period.
In the situation that has arisen, both the airport and the ground services are barely meeting the existing congestion, and certainly will not be able to cope with the addition of takeoffs and landings.
Mess in the ground services in the field, Photo: Shai Maor
Another implication is that airlines wishing to add charter flights to nearby destinations and companies that have not submitted the plans on time - will not receive permission to add flights to and from the country.
The flights currently operating are flights whose applications for approvals were submitted somewhere in January, during the Omicron wave and when the future of aviation was unclear.
It should be noted that the flight approval process takes place between March and November for the summer season, and from November to March for the winter season.
This means that no new flights will be added until this coming November, so the flights we are currently seeing on the schedule are the flights for which the Israeli passenger will be able to purchase a ticket, at least until the beginning of this coming winter.
It turns out that the prices of airline tickets, which have already risen after the recent rise in fuel prices, are expected to rise even more due to the limited supply and high demand from passengers.
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