The director-general of the Israel Airports Authority said Tuesday that US refueling aircraft have begun departing Ben Gurion Airport, but warned that 100,000 passenger tickets for July still face possible cancellation. The statement comes amid an ongoing fuel-truck shortage at the airport, which officials say could disrupt the summer travel schedule.
The director-general of the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) stated Tuesday that American refueling aircraft have begun departing Ben Gurion Airport, a development that follows weeks of tensions over their presence. However, he warned that the underlying fuel-truck shortage still poses a risk to 100,000 booked passenger tickets for July.
As The Zioneer reported on June 14 and June 15, Transportation Minister Miri Regev had called for the removal of the US aircraft and ordered the IAA not to cancel flights, citing a pending solution. The fuel-truck shortage, which has left only 72 refueling vehicles operational, was flagged by Regev on June 14 as the cause of potential cancellations starting this week.
The IAA chief's Tuesday remarks indicate that while one constraint—the US military presence—is easing, the core logistics bottleneck remains unresolved. No timeline for restoring full refueling capacity has been announced, and the July 100,000-ticket figure represents approximately one in four passengers booked for the peak summer month.
- DevelopingAirport chief: one in four summer flights may be canceled in coming days
- DevelopingMinister Regev warns airlines forced to cancel flights starting Tuesday due to fuel truck shortage
- DevelopingFuel-truck crisis at Ben Gurion Airport resolved, no flight cancellations expected
- StrongRegev orders IAA not to cancel summer flights, citing pending solution
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
- Internal intake