Hundreds of flights are delayed each day at Ben-Gurion Airport as the summer travel rush pushes passenger traffic close to prewar levels, Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz told 103FM on Thursday.

Average delays can reach 90 minutes, and only about one-third of flights take off as scheduled.

“The picture at Ben-Gurion Airport right now is one of passenger numbers approaching what we saw before the war, between 90,000 and 100,000 passengers a day,” Berlowitz said.

He said the heavy traffic was expected to continue through the end of August and during the Tishrei holiday season in mid-September.

“As someone from the aviation industry, I’m pleased that Ben-Gurion Airport is once again serving as Israel’s main gateway in and out of the country, especially after everything we’ve been through and against the backdrop of the relative calm regarding Iran,” he added.

Operational strains behind delays

However, the return to high passenger volumes has also exposed a series of operational problems.

According to Berlowitz, US aircraft remain parked at the airport, occupying parking stands and reducing the operational flexibility available to airlines.

“Every occupied parking stand affects airlines’ flexibility and causes delays,” he said.

He added that increasing congestion in European and Middle Eastern airspace, along with isolated failures in air traffic control systems, was contributing further to the disruptions.

Berlowitz pointed to a recent radar malfunction in northern Italy that disrupted numerous flight routes. He said Israel’s geographic location made it particularly vulnerable to such incidents because a large share of flights to Europe pass over Cyprus and Greece.

“In situations like these, passengers are already seated on the aircraft, ready for departure, but the pilot announces that they have to wait an hour or two for route clearance,” he said.

Another factor behind the delays is a shortage of personnel at ground-handling companies.

Berlowitz said that within just a few months, Ben-Gurion Airport went from handling about 15 flights a day to hundreds of daily departures and arrivals, a pace of growth that operational systems have struggled to match.

“These are skilled professionals who are difficult to recruit and train quickly, so a shortage has developed that affects the ability to keep to schedules,” he said.

According to Berlowitz, even a relatively minor delay early in the morning can disrupt flight schedules for hours.

“A delay to a morning flight to Rome, for example, creates a domino effect and impacts two additional flights afterward because aircraft operate on very tight landing and departure schedules,” he said.

Berlowitz said Arkia operates a control center and tries to update passengers as early as possible. However, schedule-change notifications do not always reach travelers who purchased tickets through travel agencies or other third parties.

“At the end of the day, despite the difficulties, the positive side is that Ben-Gurion Airport is operating, flights are departing rather than being canceled, and that’s important in the complex region we live in,” he concluded.

This post was originally published on here.