Several airlines have again suspended flights into and out of Israel, following a missile strike that hit the grounds of Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday.
Israeli defenses tried but failed to intercept the missile fired by the Houthis in Yemen before it struck the airport, where it lightly injured several people and caused flights to be canceled for several hours. The Houthis, an Iranian proxy, have been firing on Israel for months, but their missiles have largely been destroyed before making impact.
The strike has set back efforts to resume full operations at Ben-Gurion, where all but Israeli carriers canceled flights last summer amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, raising costs and increasing stress for travelers.
Delta, for example, resumed Israel flights only on April 1; it has now canceled flights until at least Tuesday. Israeli news organizations are maintaining comprehensive lists of the cancelations and, in some cases, noting apparent plans to resume service — developments that some Israelis view as bellwethers for the perception of Israel abroad and for when and whether life may return to normal.
Some officials, including Rep. Richie Torres, have argued that long-canceled flights represent an effective boycott of Israel. He has particularly targeted American Airlines, which has not flown to or from Israel since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023 and does not plan to resume flights until at least September, it announced last year.
Stock prices in El Al, which has posted record profits while enjoying a near-monopoly during the war, and other Israeli carriers rose sharply on Sunday following the cancelations. The Israeli national carrier also announced a cap on one-way ticket prices in a bid to ease the disrupted travel of Israelis.
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