Lod Airport—known in Zionist terminology as “Ben Gurion”—experienced an unexpected closure of its arrival hall for nearly half an hour on Tuesday.
The disruption brought air traffic to a halt and caused passenger congestion, amid growing concerns among international airlines about the security situation due to the continued Yemeni-imposed air blockade on the airport, threatening to escalate the aviation sector crisis at the height of the summer travel season.
According to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the closure was enacted “as a precaution against a security incident,” without offering further details. During the closure, passengers inside the hall were not allowed to leave, triggering confusion and tension.
One passenger told the paper that there were “long queues and chaos at customs” in Lod Airport, adding that “no one could get through for half an hour,” prompting questions about the nature of the security threat that led to the drastic measure.
Meanwhile, Globes, another Israeli outlet, warned that the continued cancellation of flights to Lod Airport by international carriers may lead to “a crisis at the peak of the summer holiday season.”
The newspaper noted that the global airline Ryanair might reroute its aircraft to other destinations in Europe, having “grown tired of the security situation in the occupied territories.”
These developments reflect mounting concern among global airlines about the safety of their operations, with the Yemeni air blockade on the airport continuing to cause a sharp decline in both inbound flights and tourism—exerting growing economic pressure on the Israeli entity.
The closure of the arrival hall at Lod Airport, and its potential impact on airline operations, highlights the effectiveness of the Yemeni air embargo and underscores the urgent need to end the aggression and lift the blockade on Gaza. Without such steps, the Israeli entity is likely to face mounting difficulty in maintaining its status as a major travel and tourism hub.
