Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport’s check-in operation is to receive a £13million digital upgrade to cut queues, which can see travellers waiting hours before they reach the departure lounge.

The state’s main airport has been struggling with an increased flow of passengers since Covid restrictions on flying were lifted.

The surge in passenger traffic - more than 10 million international travellers have passed through the airport this year, many of them from the UK - has at times led to lengthy delays.

Rebecca Rose

Frustrated passenger Rebecca Rose

Several British passengers have told the JC of “nightmare” queues at the Ben Gurion check-in desks this summer and others have complained of further delays at security.

Now digital “tech booths” are to be installed at the airport that will enable passengers to check themselves onto their flight, weigh their baggage and pay any extra-weight surcharges before boarding.

Travellers will then undergo a final security check, as normal.

Israel

Israel's principal air hub, Ben Gurion Airport

Announcing the new system, Israel Airports Authority chief executive Hagai Topolansky said: “Our main objective is to improve services for passengers in the immediate and long term, to become a digital airport and one of the most advanced of its kind in the world.”
UK passengers told the JC of the chaos they have experienced in recent months at Ben Gurion.

One, teenager Rebecca Rose, described check-in delays at the airport for her return flight to Heathrow as “a nightmare”.

The 16-year-old GCSE student, from St Albans, Hertforshire, was among a party of 120 young people in Israel for a Federation of Zionist Youth-organised summer camp.

They had to wait in a long queue at the check-in desk for more than an hour at the airport for their flight home this month.

Ben Gurion airport1

Passengers have complained of long delays at Ben Gurion this summer

The delay meant they had a only few minutes to buy food and drink and use the toilets before boarding. Rebecca said: “It was quite stressful.

“Check-in on the way back was long.

“We had to wait more than an hour to check in, which left very little time to then get food and go to the loo before we had to board the plane.

“It was a nightmare. We had to hang around waiting, but at least we could chat to one another because there were three FZY tours in the queue.”

Phoebe Moss, 26, from Angel, North London, told the JC she was forced to queue for two hours.

She said: “It was a very long wait and the signposting in the airport was not great either.

“Anything they can do to improve it would be very welcome.”

Recent British traveller to Tel Aviv, teacher Jo Kaplan, said that although she “sailed through check-in” at Ben Gurion on her return flight earlier this summer, she experienced long delays at the security barrier.

Mrs Kaplan, a former British Airways cabin crew worker from Guildford, Surrey, said: “We arrived early for our flight home so we were through check-in within about half an hour.

“But then we hit a bottleneck at security and had to wait a very long time.

“The delay at security was due to a lack of staff. The queue snaked back and forth three times. It seemed to me that security is where support is needed at the moment.”

Mr Topolansky said the airports authority had allocated £13million of investment in the digital project for 2023 in order to “improve services and the flight experience for passengers at Ben Gurion”.

Currently, more than 50 per cent of travellers prefer to check in online, the IAA said.

The summer months at Ben Gurion have been particularly busy and this month alone, the IAA expects more than 2.3 million passengers to travel through the airport on international flights.

Under the proposed new system, travellers will be able to print out their suitcase tag and sticker and send their luggage directly to the plane after scanning the tag code at independent “drop- off” conveyor belts.

The new system also allows passengers to complete their flight check-in online at home before they travel.

The IAA has also announced that in the next few days, the check-in screening area for people traveling with hand luggage only will be expanded to “improve services and reduce waiting lines”.

Mr Topolansky added: “People flying abroad will only go through a security check after completing the check-in process for their flight — either by checking in online from home or by using one of the independent kiosks that will be installed at the airport’s departures hall.”

“Most of the process required for leaving the country will be done online and through digital means, maximising comfort and accessibility for the passengers.”