Israeli media reported that the head of the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority, Shmuel Zakai, has warned foreign airlines that the coming weekend will be a sensitive period, amid continued escalation in tensions between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 and The Times of Israel, Zakai sent a message to foreign airlines in which he did not rule out the possibility that Tel Aviv could once again close its airspace. This would mirror previous confrontations between Israel and Iran in October 2024 and June 2025, during which airspace closures were imposed.
Channel 13 reported on Sunday that the rising tensions with Iran have already affected international airline traffic to Israel, with widespread cancellations of scheduled flights to the country.
The channel noted that Germany’s Lufthansa and Italy’s ITA Airways have extended the suspension of their night flights to Israel. Meanwhile, the Dutch national carrier KLM announced the cancellation of all its flights to Israel until further notice.
France’s Air France had announced last Friday the cancellation of its flights to Tel Aviv due to the escalating tensions in the region.
In a related development, the Israeli website Walla reported on Sunday evening that Israeli airlines had announced measures to ease the process for passengers seeking to cancel bookings or change travel dates. These steps come in anticipation of a possible United States attack on Iran. The measures apply to El Al, Israir, and Arkia, the main civilian airlines operating in Israel.
Evacuation Preparations
Last Wednesday, Israel’s Minister of Transport, Miri Regev, revealed that Israeli civilian airlines had made preparations to evacuate their aircraft fleets from Israeli airports to destinations around the world. The move is intended to protect the aircraft from Iranian missiles in the event of a United States strike on Iran.
In recent weeks, United States President Donald Trump threatened to carry out a military strike against Iran in response to its handling of widespread protests across the country. However, in the week before last, Trump appeared to retreat from this position, stating that Tehran had halted planned executions of protesters.
The American president later renewed his warnings, declaring last Thursday that a large United States military fleet was heading towards the Gulf region, adding, “We are watching Iran.”
