The Airports Authority issued an extraordinary temporary order to Israeli air traffic control today (Tuesday), stating that "American refuelers should not be permitted to land at Ben Gurion Airport.".
According to a report in Kan News, it is estimated that the directive was issued by the office of Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
According to the data, 29 American tankers are currently parked at Ben Gurion Airport, to which four more planes were recently added, while the Americans have pledged to leave only 20 tankers - a volume that will allow the airport to continue its regular operations, without harming civilian airlines and passengers.
Earlier, it was reported that the United States had frozen the evacuation of refueling planes from Ben-Gurion Airport. According to the Airports Authority, this means the threat of canceling approximately 50,000 flight tickets - which will be canceled by the end of July if the evacuation does not progress.
Currently, the Minister of Transportation has instructed to freeze the permission for additional American refueling planes to land at Ben Gurion Airport and to examine alternatives for them at other fields.
The Minister of Transportation announced that she is working with all relevant parties to find a solution that will allow routine operations at Ben Gurion Airport to be maintained even during the sensitive security period. According to her, the goal is to prevent any harm to passengers and ensure that "no flight ticket will be canceled" due to the security escalation.
