Tel Aviv’s air crisis: Israel struggles with isolation and soaring prices

The Hebrew economic newspaper Globes wrote: Airports are facing a severe decline in air traffic, with 600 to 700 flights canceled in recent days, a 24% reduction in international flights, and an average of 50,000 daily passengers, down from 60,000 before the recent attack.

The report indicates that the vast majority of air operations are now controlled by three local companies affiliated with the occupiers, while most foreign airlines are practically absent, having decided to suspend their flights for periods extending to June next year.

The newspaper stated: The recent attack on Ben Gurion Airport was not merely a tactical event but a strategic strike that sent a clear message that Israel’s skies are no longer safe. Targeting the international airport, a vital hub and symbol of stability, was enough to shake the confidence of global airlines, prompting their gradual withdrawal.

The newspaper emphasized that the major aviation crisis has not yet fully begun, and without real security or political guarantees, the coming days could witness further collapse.

It explained that the occupying regime’s authorities are trying to portray the return of European flights as a sign of improving conditions, but the overall picture tells a completely different story: suffocating air isolation, a damaged tourism economy, and an international community reevaluating its relationship with a regime that has lost the ability to provide even the most basic security requirements for citizens and tourists.

Israel’s Channel 12 television also reported that the situation at airports in the occupied territories is becoming increasingly complex due to ongoing Yemeni attacks. The recent attack on Ben Gurion Airport has raised serious questions about the ability of foreign airlines to continue flights to and from Tel Aviv.

The channel reported that missile messages from Yemen were crafted in the “language of aviation” and deliberately aimed at foreign airlines, contributing to a climate of fear in the aviation sector of the occupied territories.

It added: Wizz Air’s decision to cancel its flights means the loss of at least 10 daily flights and thousands of tickets weekly, dealing a direct economic blow to airports and the tourism sector.

The channel stated: Efforts to convince major airlines to return to Tel Aviv have become an urgent political and economic priority, as there are concerns that flight suspensions could lead to the loss of the entire summer travel season.

The channel described this crisis as a “first-class political-economic event” with far-reaching implications not only for the aviation industry but for all vital sectors.

The newspaper reported that the greatest concern among settlers these days is the sharp rise in prices, which has extended beyond the aviation sector to encompass a wide range of daily life, at a time when the occupying regime appears unable to calm markets or reassure the public.