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El Al cancels scheduled flights through April 18 amid extended restrictions

El Al has canceled all scheduled flights until April 18, following the Transportation Ministry's decision to extend passenger and flight limits at Ben-Gurion Airport. The airline will operate an emergency schedule to select destinations, with a 100-passenger cap per flight and priority for humanitarian cases.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 distinct · 1 masthead · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Apr 5, 2026 Published Aug 13

Coverage Overview

Israeli flag carrier El Al announced on Sunday the cancellation of all scheduled flights until April 18, after the Transportation Ministry extended restrictions on the number of passengers and flights departing from Ben-Gurion Airport. The airline said an emergency flight schedule is now in effect, limiting service to a handful of destinations and capping each flight at 100 passengers.

The decision comes as Israel continues to manage air travel amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, which has heightened security risks for commercial aviation. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Transportation Ministry approved the new limits on Sunday, raising the previous cap of 80 passengers per flight and allowing two departures per hour, up from one.

El Al's Emergency Schedule

In a statement reported by the Jerusalem Post, El Al said it will operate flights only to New York (JFK and Newark), Los Angeles, Miami, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens. The airline clarified that new tickets will be required for these flights, and passengers whose original flights were canceled are being accommodated based on priority according to the original ticket issue date.

"Priority is given to exceptional humanitarian medical cases," the company said. Customers affected by cancellations are entitled to a refund or a credit voucher, according to El Al.

Transportation Ministry's New Limits

Separately, the Transportation Ministry announced the easing of certain restrictions. Flights departing from Ben-Gurion Airport will now carry up to 100 passengers, an increase from the previous 80-passenger limit, which had been set due to the war with Iran and potential security risks. The ministry will also permit two flights per hour to depart, up from one, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

These new measures are seen as a step toward gradually relaxing travel restrictions. Earlier, during the holiday season, the passenger cap had been reduced to 50. The ministry indicated the new policy signals a trend toward more relaxed flight restrictions.

Reservation of Seats for Humanitarian Cases

According to reports, 30% of seats on each flight will be reserved for emergency or humanitarian cases. Passengers seeking these options must contact the Transportation Ministry and will be subject to the decision of a designated committee. The passenger quota does not include crew members, the ministry clarified.

Key Claims

El Al cancels all scheduled flights until April 18 – The airline announced the cancellation on Sunday, following the Transportation Ministry's decision to extend restrictions on flights from Ben-Gurion Airport.
Emergency schedule to limited destinations – El Al will operate flights only to New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens. New tickets are required for these flights.
100-passenger limit per flight – The Transportation Ministry approved an increase from 80 to 100 passengers per flight, citing security risks due to the war with Iran.
Increased departure frequency – The ministry will allow two flights per hour to depart from Ben-Gurion Airport, up from one.
Humanitarian seating reserved – 30% of seats will be reserved for emergency or humanitarian cases, with applications handled by the Transportation Ministry.
Passenger rights – Affected customers are entitled to refunds or credit vouchers.

How this outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Jerusalem Post · 2 articles

Framing: Relaxation of flight restrictions

as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC

Framing: El Al's flight cancellations and restrictions

Facts Included:

El Al canceled all scheduled flights on Sunday until April 18
Transportation Ministry's decision to extend restrictions on the number of passengers and flights permitted to depart from Israel via Ben-Gurion Airport
Emergency flight schedule in effect with limited gateways and passenger restrictions
El Al will operate flights only to specific destinations
100-passenger limit in all flights departing from Israel
Priority given to exceptional humanitarian medical cases
Customers entitled to a refund or credit voucher for canceled flights

Read the source article →

as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Flights to start departing from Ben-Gurion Airport with up to 100 passengers
Increase in passenger limit from 80
Two flights to depart per hour instead of one
30% of flight passengers reserved for emergency or humanitarian cases
Passengers must contact Transportation Ministry to apply for humanitarian flight options

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimEl Al canceled all scheduled flights on Sunday until April 18. This decision follows the Transportation Ministry's announcement to extend restrictions on flights from Ben-Gurion Airport.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimThe Transportation Ministry extended restrictions on the number of passengers and flights permitted to depart from Israel via Ben-Gurion Airport.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimAn emergency flight schedule is in effect with limited gateways and a restriction on the number of passengers on each flight departing Israel.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimEl Al will operate flights only to specific destinations, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bangkok, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimThere is a 100-passenger limit in all flights departing from Israel.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimPriority is given to exceptional humanitarian medical cases.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimCustomers whose flights were canceled due to the security situation are entitled to a refund or a credit voucher.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimFlights will start departing from Ben-Gurion Airport with up to 100 passengers, representing an increase from the previous 80-passenger limit.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimThe Transportation Ministry will allow two flights to depart per hour, up from one.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
Claim30% of the flight's passengers will be reserved for emergency or humanitarian cases.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC
ClaimPassengers must contact the Transportation Ministry to apply for humanitarian flight options.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Jerusalem Post as of Apr 5, 2026, 3:30 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 distinct · 1 masthead · 2 articles consulted: Jerusalem Post 11 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-13