Ryanair cancels all flights to Israel for foreseeable future

Ryanair blamed “operating restrictions” for the decision – but the JC has been unable to confirm what these restrictions are.

In a statement, the company said the “regrettable” cancellations were made because of “operating restrictions which are beyond our control.

“Affected passengers will be notified of their options via email and SMS, and passengers are advised to download the Ryanair app to check for the latest flight updates,” the airline said.

After cancelling flights soon after October 7, the airline resumed flying to Tel Aviv on June 3, with dozens of weekly departures and arrivals.

The Israel Airports Authority decided to halt activity at Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 1 after the war in Gaza broke out. As a result, all flights departing from Ben Gurion were forced to use Terminal 3, which charges higher passenger fees.

On February 1, Ryanair became the first low-cost carrier to resume direct flights to Israel and had no choice but to use Terminal 3.

Another low-cost airline, EasyJet, suspended flights to Tel Aviv following Iran's missile and drone attack in April.

The airline halted flights until October 27 at the earliest, blaming "the continued evolving situation in Israel".

Israel’s national flag carrier El Al continued to fly between the UK and Tel Aviv.