Up to 50,000 flight tickets may be canceled during July following an American decision to freeze the evacuation of its refuelers stationed at Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel Airports Authority (IAA) warned on Thursday. 

IAA director-general Sharon Kedmi released a letter expressing concern over the decision. “This delay has immediate and serious operational consequences,” he stated. 

Transportation Ministry Director-General Moshe Ben Zaken also said additional US refueling aircraft would not be permitted to land at the airport. Israeli air traffic control had reportedly been instructed not to approve any further US refuelers for landing in Israel.

“Citizens cannot be harmed; the Defense Ministry must find solutions,” Ben Zaken said. 

In addition to the freeze, four additional US refuelers landed at Ben-Gurion Airport recently, N12 reported, adding that the planes came from Gulf countries which have recently come under Iranian attack. 

US refueling aircraft reduces airport to one-third capacity

In May, the IAA reported that Ben-Gurion Airport was operating at one-third of its capacity due to the presence of the US refueling aircraft. 

Kedmi stated on KAN’s Reshet Bet radio station that 70% of activities at the airport are restricted due to the space and resources occupied by US military operations. 

“We are only utilizing one-third of the airport’s operational capacity,” he said. 

Kedmi added that in the past several months, the IAA has suffered a loss of 700 million shekels (approximately $248 million), and that this figure could escalate to billions if the situation continues. 

Anna Barsky contributed to this report.