From midnight on Sunday up to 100 passengers will be allowed on each flight taking off from Ben Gurion airport. This latest relaxation of security restrictions was decided during a security assessment undertaken today by the Ministry of Transport in consultation with Ministry of Defense officials. This is a further easing following the decision on Friday to increase the quota to 80 passengers per outbound flight from last night.

The restrictions on Ben Gurion Airport's operations were imposed due to security and operational considerations, primarily the need to reduce the length of time aircraft spend on the ground with passengers on board at the airport.

Unlike outbound flights, no similar limit has been imposed on the number of passengers on incoming flights. The reason for this lies in the operational differences between landing and takeoff. The time for landing and disembarkation of passengers from the plane is significantly shorter, while the security check process before takeoff is longer. In addition, when an aircraft is on the ground, it is particularly vulnerable during any alert, and therefore the policy is to reduce the length of time the plane stays on the ground as far as possible.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 5, 2026.

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