Ryanair has confirmed it will not resume flights to Tel Aviv after Ben Gurion Airport failed to meet Tuesday’s deadline for guarantees on terminal costs and flight slots.
The airline demanded assurances that it would maintain “low-cost” charges if moved to the more expensive Terminal 3 and that it would receive the same summer 2026 slots allocated this year. With these conditions unmet, Ryanair has suspended its Tel Aviv operations indefinitely.
Last week, Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary told reporters the airport had until Tuesday to provide guarantees, adding bluntly: “Frankly, it wouldn’t cost me much of a thought” if the airline didn’t return to Israel.
Ryanair’s Tel Aviv services faced repeated disruptions this summer due to security concerns over Israeli airspace and the airport’s decisions to occasionally relocate flights from Terminal 1 to the higher-cost Terminal 3.
A Ryanair spokesperson said today: “We are fed up having our low-fare flights repeatedly messed around by Ben Gurion Airport. It is absurd that they refused to confirm our summer 2026 slots, when summer 2026 schedules are already on sale.”
The airline acknowledged that multiple carriers, including Ryanair, cancelled Tel Aviv flights this summer “but only because it was unsafe to operate there.” However, it stated it is “not willing to restart loss-making flights to/from Tel Aviv for the winter season, without the certainty that our summer 2026 historic slots have been confirmed.”
Ryanair said it has “no difficulty” temporarily operating from Terminal 3 but insisted this must come with Terminal 1 pricing. “Until such time as Ben Gurion Airport confirm our historic S26 slots, and confirm that they will in future keep T1 open, we will not restart low-fare flights to/from Tel Aviv this winter,” the airline stated.
The standoff represents a significant service reduction for Irish travelers to Israel and highlights tensions between low-cost carriers and airports over terminal access and pricing structures. Ben Gurion Airport has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded to Ryanair’s decision.