A blow to the Israeli traveler: Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, announced today (Tuesday) that it will not resume operations in Israel this winter - due to a dispute with Ben Gurion Airport over the summer flight schedule.
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According to the company's data, this involves the cancellation of 22 flight routes and millions of tickets.
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"We are fed up with Ben Gurion Airport repeatedly disrupting our flights," said a spokesperson for the airline. "It is absurd that they have refused to confirm our flight slots for the summer of 2026, when their schedules are already available for sale. We understand that many airlines - including Ryanair - have cancelled their flights to and from Tel Aviv this summer, but only because it was not safe to operate there. We are not prepared to resume loss-making flights to and from Tel Aviv for the winter season without certainty that our flight slots for the summer of 2026 have been confirmed.
""It is also unacceptable to Ryanair that our presence at Tel Aviv Airport is dependent on the availability of Terminal 1 for low-cost flights. However, Tel Aviv Airport continues to close this facility for its own convenience, forcing Ryanair and other low-cost airlines to enter Terminal 3, which is more expensive.".
""We have no problem temporarily moving to Terminal 3 in accordance with the needs of Ben Gurion Airport, but we must continue to calculate the costs according to Terminal 1 rates.".
Ben Gurion Airport blamed the airline for the decision: "We regret the manipulations that Ryanair is making on the backs of Israeli passengers. It seems that the company from Ireland has made a decision not to fly to Israel and is now trying to minimize damage to the passengers who purchased tickets from it for the coming months.".
The airport also denied the claims: "Terminal 1 is open and operating as usual, Ryanair has received the slots for all the dozens of weekly flights and destinations it requested for the winter period 2025-2026.".
