El Al Israel Airlines has closed out new flight bookings until March 21 at the earliest as it puts into motion a massive repatriation operation to get stranded Israelis back home as soon as local officials give the go-ahead for flight operations to resume.
Earlier on Saturday, El Al evacuated its aircraft away from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, breaking the Jewish holy tradition of Shabbat in which the airline normally grounds its planes between sunset on Friday and nightfall on Saturday.
Aircraft involved in the mass evacuation included Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 737s, which were sent in convoy to airports across Europe, including Athens, Bucharest, Budapest, Paris, and Rome.
Aircrews were scrambled to evacuate the planes out of Israel at short notice, and the planes departed Ben Gurion Airport under irregular flight numbers, highlighting that these were special flights without paying passengers on board.
All flights remain suspended at Ben Gurion Airport amidst ongoing Iranian missile attacks on Israel. The airport is not expected to reopen until March 2 at the earliest.
In a statement, El Al explained: “At this stage, it is not possible to purchase EL AL tickets for flights until March 21 or until all EL AL customers holding a valid ticket have been rebooked.”
“Closing ticket sales is intended to ensure full priority for customers whose tickets were issued before the current situation and to guarantee their travel as soon as possible.”
Foreign airlines are expected to keep flights suspended to Israel even once the airport authority gives the go-ahead for operations to resume.
“Customers holding a ticket will be automatically rebooked on flights, and EL AL will proactively update them with their new departure time,” a statement from the airline continued.
“Based on the current assessment, there is no need at this stage to transfer customers to another destination worldwide.”
Flight operations across the Middle East remain badly impacted due to widespread airspace closures. On Saturday night, Dubai International Airport was evacuated after an Iranian kamikaze drone struck Terminal 3.
At least four people were injured, although officials downplayed the incident, explaining that the terminal building only sustained minor damage and that most passengers had already left the airport.
In a seperate incident at Abu Dhabi International Airport, one person was tragically killed and seven other injuries in what was believed to be an Iranian missile attack.
In the wake of these incidents, local authorities in Qatar expedited the exit of passengers from Doha Hamad International Airport to local hotels.
Qatar Airways says it will provide a further update on when flight operations might resume at 9:00 am on March 1. Emirates says it is currently targeting a restart time of 3:00 pm on Sunday, but given the highly dynamic nature of the evolving security situation, this is subject to change.
