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?
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?
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