El Al, Israir add flights to bring reservists back to Israel

Israel’s airports authority has said El Al and Israir Airlines have added more flights to bring reservists back to the country and restricted flights to Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal 3 due to security concerns.

The flights come after Israel said on Monday it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and warned residents of the Gaza Strip to evacuate in a sign it could be planning a ground assault in response to Hamas’ unprecedented weekend attack.

While many major carriers have cancelled flights to and from Israel, Israel’s national carriers have looked to ramp up capacity, at least in coming days.

The airports authority said 67,000 passengers were expected to travel through Ben Gurion on Tuesday, compared to an average of 80,000 under normal circumstances.

On its website, Israir said it was offering rescue flights from Larnaca in Turkey, Corfu in Greece and Batumi in Georgia to help bring Israelis back to the country.

Arkia also offered flights from the Greek capital Athens to Eilat in southern Israel and Marrakesh in Morocco to Tel Aviv, among others.

Israir said its flight schedule could be reduced in coming days as its foreign crews were asked to leave the country while some Israeli staff were also recruited to fight.

Iceland said on Monday night it had flown out 126 Icelanders, five Faroese, four Norwegians and 12 Germans that had been stranded in Israel from Amman, Jordan, on a government-sponsored plane.

The Israeli airports authority said 67,000 passengers were expected to travel through Ben Gurion on Tuesday, compared to an average of 80,000 under normal circumstances.

The authority added that it would restrict flights to Ben Gurion airport’s Terminal 3 due to security concerns.

On Saturday, it was reported that 20 flights from Athens would carry some 5,000 Israeli reservists to their home country to join the armed forces. [Reuters/AP]