20,000 Israelis stranded abroad amid wartime flight restrictions
Increased flight activity to destinations such as Bangkok and Phuket has already enabled the return of approximately 8,000 Israelis
About 20,000 Israelis remain stranded abroad, primarily in Southeast Asia and North America, despite the return of roughly 100,000 citizens since the start if the Iran war, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Bringing the remaining individuals home has proven significantly more complicated, largely due to their wide geographic distribution and the reliance on long-haul aircraft with capacities of 270 to 320 passengers.
Repatriation efforts are being heavily restricted by wartime regulations at Ben Gurion Airport.
Authorities are limiting arrivals to one long-haul flight per hour, or two smaller aircraft, while also curbing departures to minimize the time planes spend on the ground, which is considered a heightened security risk during alerts. Additional caps on the number of passengers allowed in the airport at any given time have further complicated logistics and scheduling.
These limitations have created a significant bottleneck. Although an estimated 65 to 70 flights would be sufficient to bring all remaining Israelis home, the coordination required between international airports, airlines, and civil aviation authorities has slowed progress. The uneven distribution of stranded passengers has also made it difficult to fully utilize each flight.
To accelerate the process, Israeli officials are concentrating operations around key regional hubs, particularly in Southeast Asia. Increased flight activity to destinations such as Bangkok and Phuket has already enabled the return of approximately 8,000 Israelis.
Meanwhile, a separate arrangement with the United States has facilitated the evacuation of thousands of American citizens from Israel through special El Al flights to New York.
While outbound flights from Israel are generally restricted to around 100 passengers for security reasons, exceptions have been made for flights to the United States, which are permitted to carry larger numbers.