On Sunday morning, a missile struck near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV). Will this have longer term implications for air service to the country?
In this post:
Houthi missile strikes near Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport
On the morning of Sunday, May 4, 2025, a missile launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis struck near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport. This incident is the first known failure of Israel’s air defenses to intercept an incoming missile, since the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza in March.
This attack grounded flights, halted train service, and forced the closure of airport access roads, so that debris could be cleared, and the area could be inspected. While operations at the airport stopped for a few hours this morning, they’ve already resumed. A total of eight people were injured — hopefully they make full and quick recoveries.
The Israeli Defense Forces issued the following statement:
“Following the sirens that sounded in a number of areas in Israel, several attempts were made to intercept the missile launched from Yemen. A fall was identified in the area of Ben Gurion Airport. The incident is under review.”
Airlines suspend Tel Aviv flights following attack
Most foreign airlines suspended service to and from Israel for an extended period of time since October 2023, given the potential risks. EL AL has operated service consistently, given that the airline has some added safety equipment, and also since there’s a little different of a risk tolerance, with the airline being based in Israel.
In reality, we’ve seen most foreign airlines just resume service to Tel Aviv in recent weeks, following the ceasefire announcement. With the ceasefire not exactly going as hoped, and with a missile evading Israel’s air defenses and striking near the airport, one certainly wonders if we’ll see foreign airlines once again cut service to Israel on a long term basis.
We’re already starting to see some airlines cut service to Tel Aviv in the coming days.
Only time will tell if this is just temporary for a few days, or lasts much longer than that. This gets at the challenge of airlines operating service to Israel. It can be a lucrative market, but if you can’t reliably plan service, it’s really hard to justify, since you don’t want to constantly cancel and resume flights.
Bottom line
This morning, a missile launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis evaded Israel’s air defenses, and struck near Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport. Operations were interrupted for a few hours, but have since resumed. With this being the first missile in quite some time to not be intercepted, one wonders what this will mean for airline service at the airport. We’re already seeing some airlines temporarily suspend service.
Do you think this missile strike will have longer term implications for operations at the airport?
Why this dump of a land is not getting boycotted more is beyond me. And why people even choose to go there is even more so.
You can't overfly Russia, You can't overfly Ukraine, You couldn't overfly Iraq. But You can fly directly into Tel Aviv after it was hit by a rocket and is under constant threat of attack.
How do these airlines (and the FAA) justify this? Oh wait, to serve a class of population that runs all of these countries....
Lieflat19, try to think declared war zone and insurance company policy.
AeroB13a, try to think proxy war and a class of population who owns the insurance company.
FAA IASA Program. Israel is CAT 1. Simple as that.
It's amazing that there are literate adults, living in first world nations, that have this world view.
States such as Israel are not the same as terrorist organizations.
It's as if the Sinaloa cartel launched a missle towards Tucson. It's that simple.
Dan. Obviously you're blind or not a smart person or maybe both. Seems like you and AeroB13a who comments 15 times each time Israel commits a crime and trys to justify are being paid by the same zionist pr machine. We see you and we're insulted by it. Please stop it.
Oh come now MAGA, surely even the likes of you has to know the difference between a terrorist act of barbarism and the defence of one’s nation?
Maybe not! Muslim and Hamas terrorist supporters know only what the likes of TikTok and the Iranian propaganda machine tells them.
One has to feel sorry for the grossly ignorant terrorist supporters.
I'm certainty not blind to the fact that you are posting from outside the United States. You have no ties to "MAGA" and your name is not Joe.
I once thought that IDF was a group you didn't want to have to mess with, but they seem to. not be meeting any useful metric here wrt getting hostages back,
The only thing they're doing here is keeping Netanyahu in office (because "war").
How is that then henare, please enlighten the readership?
@henare
You've fallen to their recruiting propaganda.
Or you've mistaken IDF to Mossad.
Ironically the latter is good at taking not saving lives.
Im confused. Israel bombs and kills innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen and it is ok. But when someone bombs them and there is no civilian deaths they are the terrorists? Please explain this logic. Crossing and killing cross borders is an act of war, retaliation is called self defense. If im wrong on either of these, please educate me. Saying I hate those who practice Judaism is not an acceptable response....
Im confused. Israel bombs and kills innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen and it is ok. But when someone bombs them and there is no civilian deaths they are the terrorists? Please explain this logic. Crossing and killing cross borders is an act of war, retaliation is called self defense. If im wrong on either of these, please educate me. Saying I hate those who practice Judaism is not an acceptable response. No one hates a religion or those who practice it.
What defines a terrorist? Flying planes into the twin towers. Going home to home in southern Israel and murdering entire families by hand. Slaughtering attendees at a music festival. Allahu akbar suicide bombing children.
What is not terrorism? Precision air strikes at abandoned weapons bases in Syria, targeted explosives at Hezbollah officials.
Hope that helps.
Ok MAGA, I’ll bite.
In the first instance, the challenges in area of Judea stretch back over millennia. There is insufficient space in the comments box to provide detail, you will need to read, read and then read some more. By doing even a little research, one should be able to understand how the Jewish communities have been persecuted by all in-sundry for centuries.
Since the establishment of the Islamic religion, the persecution...
Ok MAGA, I’ll bite.
In the first instance, the challenges in area of Judea stretch back over millennia. There is insufficient space in the comments box to provide detail, you will need to read, read and then read some more. By doing even a little research, one should be able to understand how the Jewish communities have been persecuted by all in-sundry for centuries.
Since the establishment of the Islamic religion, the persecution of the Jews became an obsession by the followers. Over the centuries millions, upon millions of Jews have been killed by those Muslim hordes. That killing continues to this day.
Jews have been forced off the lands known as Judea and have become displaced throughout the world. That ended with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Jews were then able to return to their ancestral homeland.
Since 1948 the surrounding Muslim countries have attacked Isreal in further attempts to initiate all Jews and destroy the State of Israel.
On the 7th of October, a group of Palestinians who pledged allegiance to the Iranian backed terrorist organisation Hamas, entered into Isreal and committed barbarous acts against the innocent babies, women and children who lived locally. Those same Palestinians took hostages and continue to hold innocent people hostage today.
Now it is your turn Joe, please justify your support of those who wish to perpetrate even more barbarous crimes against humanity and the children of Israel.
@AeroB13a
Mental exercise for you. Jewish people have lived in eastern Europe and western Russia for a history spanning over 1500 years. Should the descendants of those people also be given a state there? Is 2 millennia long enough to establish a claim to geographical location, but not 1.5? Why don't natives get their own separate nations from the USA/Canada/Mexico then? They were persecuted by the Old World and the new colonial powers even...
@AeroB13a
Mental exercise for you. Jewish people have lived in eastern Europe and western Russia for a history spanning over 1500 years. Should the descendants of those people also be given a state there? Is 2 millennia long enough to establish a claim to geographical location, but not 1.5? Why don't natives get their own separate nations from the USA/Canada/Mexico then? They were persecuted by the Old World and the new colonial powers even moreso than Jewish peoples were. Creating new borders this century or last based on millennia old claims is a recipe for conflicts that didn't need to happen.
Dusty, you are absolutely correct. I am absolutely certain that you will agree, this current conflict could well end tomorrow. No need to wait hundreds of years, weeks or even days. All the Palestinian Hamas terrorists have to do is release the hostages and stop perpetrating violence against Jews, yes?
Call London Dusty it's +44 though, not like your 900 #s.
Wow...you really sat down and spewed out all that garbage without the slightest goddamn clue, didn’t you?
You’re out here wailing about Jewish persecution but somehow manage to skip the two biggest atrocities ever committed against Jews? you forgot about the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition? FYI, both were carried out by white, Christian Europeans, not Muslims! It wasn’t Muslims who engineered the gas chambers of Auschwitz, you know that? It wasn’t Muslims who...
Wow...you really sat down and spewed out all that garbage without the slightest goddamn clue, didn’t you?
You’re out here wailing about Jewish persecution but somehow manage to skip the two biggest atrocities ever committed against Jews? you forgot about the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition? FYI, both were carried out by white, Christian Europeans, not Muslims! It wasn’t Muslims who engineered the gas chambers of Auschwitz, you know that? It wasn’t Muslims who created pogroms, ghettos, or blood libels. Those were Christian Europe’s twisted little gifts to the Jewish people. The same Europeans by the way, that spent centuries blaming Jews for plagues, burning them alive, murdering them in mobs, and forcing them into ghettos, before finally turning genocide into an industrial operation in 20th-century Nazi Germany... or that minor detail did not get your attention?
Antisemitism was born, bred, and perfected in white Christian Europe. lets never forget that Europeans didn’t just hate Jews, they legalized it, ritualized it, industrialised it and turned it into a cornerstone of their culture and politics for centuries. And while no society is spotless, Muslim civilizations were often the safer damn option for Jews throughout the last milinia... under the Ottomans, under the Moors in Spain and in Persia. But of course, you wouldn’t know that, would ya?
And don’t even get me started on your laughable “Judea” fantasy—as if some tribe lived there a few thousand years ago, and now that magically justifies a modern state bulldozing people’s homes and ethnically cleansing entire villages today. Are you actually serious, or just stupid? By that logic, every tribe on Earth should start packing their bags to “reclaim” some chunk of land they haven’t touched since the Iron Age. It’s f***ng ridiculous. Should the Greeks reclaim Troy? or should the Gauls take back France? How about the Italians? should they rebuild the Roman Empire? Should Native Americans get Manhattan back? Oh wait—they actually should. should't they? But I’m guessing you’re not ready for that smart arse conversation, are you?
Israel wasn’t built by prophets coming home. It was built by secular, European settler-colonialists, mostly Eastern European Zionists, backed by imperial Britain, who grabbed land through war, displacement, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide. It wasn’t some “biblical reunion”—it was a 20th-century colonial land heist, and the ones who paid the price were the people who already lived there, the Palestinians: Jews, Christians, and Muslim Arabs.
Your version of history reads like something scraped off the floor of a hasbara propaganda boiler room. It’s lazy, it's dishonest, and frankly, it's pathetic. You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, no grasp of history and clearly no f***ng sense of reality either.
Glad to see so many taking up the challenge of solving peace in the Middle East by contributing their most aggressive, ill informed opinions here.
Yet again I must offer my thanks to those Hamas and Houthi terrorist supporters who display their gross ignorance of Middle Eastern history, both ancient and modern.
Blaming Isreal for the actions of Islamic terrorists displays only a TikTok education.
Are airlines still required to pay for replacement tickets on LY at extortionate rates? I feel like foreign airlines need to tell the Israeli government that they won't resume flying to Israel until either there's a long-term ceasefire or the Israeli government is willing to subsidize the cost of the rebooking.
Watson …. “I feel like” your post looks very much as if it could be cut and pasted straight out of the Hamas Terrorist propaganda manual.
Swing and a miss, bud. My I/P posting history speaks for itself. My comment here is about economics only. (It's actually one of the only on-topic comments in the whole thread.)
Typical misdirected Tory anger. You know you're mad but confused about who to be mad at.
Watson, please be assured that one is neither mad, nor “Confused about who to be mad at”.
You, on the other hand appear confused as to who is responsible for the political and economic situation which resulted in the current aviation debacle.
You speak about yourself in the third person? Weird.
Let me know when Hamas volunteers to cover rebooking expenses. Until then it doesn't make much fiscal sense to continue selling tickets and having to pay for reaccommodation on LY unless Israel wants to subsidize it.
PS: I bet you're super bummed that a foreigner won the World Snooker Championship.
Lufthansa group(LH, Swiss, Austrian, Eurowings, Ita) just announced that they suspend all their Israel services due to a possible expansion of Israels military operations in Gaza for the next few days.
UA just issued a statement announcing a cessation of EWR-TLV services until further notice.
BA have also cancelled flights;
In a statement, a spokesperson for British Airways said:
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority. We continually monitor operating conditions and have made the decision to suspend all our flights to and from Tel Aviv, up to and including BA405 on Wednesday, 7 May.”
A fine example of the difference in attitude towards crew and passenger safety in view of the continuous terrorist threat and action from the Iranian backed Houthis.
Some other airlines demonstrate their unwillingness to acknowledge the Hamas/Houthis terrorists threats, while blaming Isreal to cover their antisemitism.
Good, keep it up!
It’s like 2017 all over again. Expect Israel and the US to pay Saudi Arabia to fight the Houthi dogs in their backyard.
Wow that could have easily hit a commercial plane.
Or the terminal!
I wanna know the insurance premium on Tel Aviv flights. Free market rates must be through the roof since 7/10. Has it had to be subsidised? Does anyone know?
Looks like billions of American tax payer money well spent on a fail proof defense system....
No defense system is ever fail proof.
Call London, they'll write anything. At the end of the day it will cost a lot and only cover the tires.
Well deserved. Netanyahu and Israel continue to violate the ceasefire and have committed genocide against the Palestinian people for 75 years.
“Well deserved” a missile launched at a civilian airport. This comment, in a nutshell, is Palestinianism. Everyone should read this, study this, and understand that the issue is not the Israelis (who withdrew their occupation from Gaza in 2005) but a worldview that seeks, like Al Qaeda on 9/11 to destroy—no matter what Israel does.
Ok ceflyer the Hasbarist.
How much did Daniella Weiss pay you today?
…. and which version of the Hamas Covenant are you being influenced by BZ?
“No matter what Israel does”
You mean like slaughter tens of thousands of civilians in a few months? I certainly don’t eish harm on any civilians and wouldn’t celebrate this missile strike but I’m flabbergasted by someone being outraged by civilian infrastructure being targeted, when Israel has been directly targeting civilians/healthcare etc. on a continuous basis - how can someone be so blind to that hypocrisy?
No. Your own creatures and terrorist leaders Hamas were the ones that targeted hospitals and children’s schools. Not Israel. Stop getting your news from tik tok.
@BZ
Go Allah akbar somewhere else. Terrorist !
Israel should annex gaza strip and west bank and relocate the residents to Jordan and Egypt.
The 1948 borders, created when the British withdrew from the UN mandate, should be respected. Even the 1967 borders are not respected.
It does not matter How much you Indians Kiss the Israeli S, They still think of you as Urine Drinking Dirty Indians.
Wannabe Israeli sympathizer? they still do not like people who worship cattle.
Proof genocide: 0
Proof of your ignorance: 100
@BZ: Looks like the Israelis are taking my advice! Can't wait to stay at the Trump Gaza Hotel & Casino
Very sad Israelis have to deal with this. Like 9/11 for us, October 7 was the worst terror attack Israelis have suffered. Imagine if after 9/11 we had to deal with continued missiles shot at us. After 9/11 half of Europe and Canada invaded Iraq and Afghanistan with us. Who’s helping the Israelis stop this? Shameful.
Israelis committed the Nakba in 1948, and are welcome to go back to their original countries at any point in time.
Stop committing genocide and the people you are attacking, the Palestinians, will stop resisting. Simple really.
Unfortunately, until the Palestinians accept that the Israelis (most of whom are of middle eastern descent and were expelled from Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and North Africa anyway) are home in their indigenous homeland of Israel, and cannot be removed with any amount of suicide bombing, this fighting will continue.
What is needed is mass Palestinian support for a 2 state solution with Japan-style demilitarization post WWII. It’s starting in Gaza with the recent protests against...
Unfortunately, until the Palestinians accept that the Israelis (most of whom are of middle eastern descent and were expelled from Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and North Africa anyway) are home in their indigenous homeland of Israel, and cannot be removed with any amount of suicide bombing, this fighting will continue.
What is needed is mass Palestinian support for a 2 state solution with Japan-style demilitarization post WWII. It’s starting in Gaza with the recent protests against Hamas.
Israelis are in "their original country". Unless you of course suggest that they should take back some of the territories currently recognised as Palestine.
@BZ: Israelis are already in their original country. You would visit the same fate on Israelis that you allege they visited upon Palestinians in 1948. Tell me how you're any better than the people you constantly deride.
Both peoples deserve a state where they can live in safety and have a chance at prosperity. Anything less is monstrous.
"not exactly going as hoped" is a major understatement! Israel has flouted the terms of the ceasefire, continues to bomb civilians, and is refusing to allow aid into Gaza through the Rafah border, only a few miles away, where stockpiles of food, water and medicine await a damaged, decimated, starving population. I am sorry that there was a missile outside the airport - it should not have come to this. The more countries that become...
"not exactly going as hoped" is a major understatement! Israel has flouted the terms of the ceasefire, continues to bomb civilians, and is refusing to allow aid into Gaza through the Rafah border, only a few miles away, where stockpiles of food, water and medicine await a damaged, decimated, starving population. I am sorry that there was a missile outside the airport - it should not have come to this. The more countries that become involved in active attacks, the closer we are to a full-blown war in the Middle East. We need to encourage our leaders, and our businesses to put political and economic pressure on this country to stop the occupation, illegal settlements, detention, murder, and starvation of the Palestinian people. In terms of day to day aviation, I wouldn't feel safe as crew; I'd definitely stick to my hotel room! Life goes on as normal in Tel Aviv, but the reality is, you're literally flying into a war zone.
The ceasefire ended two months ago because the Palestinians refused to continue releasing the innocent Israeli and American civilians they’ve held hostage now for a year and a half. They missed a deadline to release them and said no new releases were coming.
When you said we should put pressure on Israel to stop the occupation and settlements, you should look up the history of Gaza (where the October 7 attack was conducted from). Israel...
The ceasefire ended two months ago because the Palestinians refused to continue releasing the innocent Israeli and American civilians they’ve held hostage now for a year and a half. They missed a deadline to release them and said no new releases were coming.
When you said we should put pressure on Israel to stop the occupation and settlements, you should look up the history of Gaza (where the October 7 attack was conducted from). Israel used to occupy Gaza and have settlements there until 2005 when, in an act of good faith toward the Oslo peace deal, the Israelis turned it over to the Palestinians, and Israeli soldiers forcibly removed the Israelis in Gaza from their homes and communities. In response, Hamas took over, started firing missiles, and conducted the October 7 attacks. (Hamas’s worldview, stated in their charter, is that they will continue fighting until every Jew in the world dies. Occupation is not the issue.)
What about the settlements in the West Bank that keep growing?
ceflyer.what is your take on the West Bank settlements? Silence!!
The settlements in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria are an issue because they threaten the future integrity of Palestine. It’s a complex issue though, as many of them are Jewish towns that have been Jewish for 3,000 years (Google history of Jews in Hebron).
Of course, they do not justify terrorism, if that is your implication.
No one is starving in Gaza Helen. If you dont believe me go there for yourself and check. Hamas terrorists are fed quite well and are doing financially better than you probably. If you feel so strongly about the situation in Gaza feel free to call Hamas and ask them to release the hostages.
…. and there are still those who are so ignorant of the Middle Eastern political/religious situation that they will continue to support the Hamas and Iran-backed Houthis, all in the name of Palestine.
Shame be upon the terrorist supporters.
Shame also on the people using Palestinian liberation from the wretched Israeli occupation (an occupation that would still there even if Hamas no longer existed) as an excuse to support and/or ignore the Palestinian genocide.
There is no "Israeli occupation", nor any "Palestinian genocide" (unless you mean Palestinian leadership's openly claimed goal to exterminate Jews).
Samo has to the most deluded hasbara propeganda bot yet.
Perhaps you could explain your reasoning for what is apparently an antisemitic post?
The vast majority of the Islamic world opposes Hamas. While there are Hamas in Palestine, the vast majority of Palestinians oppose Hamas. Certainly, Israel has the right to defend itself. But, when gauging a response, I would offer Genesis 18:23-32. Baruch HaShem.
The vast majority of Palestinians oppose the Israeli occupation even more. And certainly, the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves as well.
There was no occupation in Gaza on October 7. The Israelis forcibly ended their own Gaza settlements (pulling Israelis from their homes) in *2005*. Gaza was fully Palestinian controlled and run, it was a free Palestine. What did the Israelis get in return? The fundamental problem is that Hamas in its charter says it is committed to fighting until it kills every Jew in the world. Hard to square that with anything.
"and there are still those who are so ignorant"
Didn't the Brits occupied Palestine and hand them over to Zion breaking promise to the Arabs?
Shouldn't blame either sides without including Brits.
But ignorant historians only start counting in 2023.
Actually only “Ignorant historians only start counting in” …. 1948.
Please get real Esk, one needs to make oneself aware of Middle Eastern history BC, start reading or wind your neck in, bro.
Aaron, please explain “Israeli occupation”, also, why you confuse “The Palestinians have the right to defend themselves”, with the barbarous acts of the Palestinian Hamas terrorists?
One is unlikely to hold one’s breath as one suspects that you are unlikely to attempt to defend the indefensible, yes?
Seems like United has already stopped selling seats for the next few days.
A sensible move by United or submitting to terrorism, that is the question Eli?
Keeping its customers, equipment, and employees safe I would hope... I don't see you vacationing in Afghanistan or Haiti...