January 26, 2026
Israeli media reported on Sunday that the head of the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority, Shmuel Zakai, had alerted foreign airlines that the end of this week would be a critical period due to escalating tensions between the United States and Israel on the one hand, and Iran on the other.
According to what was reported by Israeli Channel 12 and the Times of Israel newspaper, “Zakai” sent an official letter to foreign airlines, in which he did not rule out the possibility of Tel Aviv closing its airspace again, as happened during the previous confrontations between Israel and Iran in November 2024 and June 2025.
In the same context, Israeli Channel 13 reported that the escalation of tension with Iran directly affected global air traffic heading to Israel, as widespread cancellation of scheduled flights was recorded.
The channel explained that the German companies Lufthansa and the Italian ETI decided to extend the suspension of their night flights to Israel, while Royal Dutch Airlines “KLM” announced the cancellation of all its flights to Israel until further notice.
Last Friday, the French airline Air France announced the cancellation of its flights to Tel Aviv due to the increasing tension in the region.
In a related context, the Israeli Walla website reported that Israeli airlines announced facilitating procedures for canceling reservations or changing flight times for travelers, in anticipation of a possible American attack on Iran. This measure includes the companies “El Al”, “Israel” and “Arkia”, which are the main civil aviation companies in Israel.
Evacuation preparations:
Last Wednesday, Israeli Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev, revealed that Israeli civil aviation companies have completed their preparations to evacuate their fleets from Israeli airports to various destinations around the world, with the aim of protecting them from Iranian missiles in the event of an American attack on Iran.
In this regard, US President Donald Trump had threatened during the past weeks to launch a military strike against Iran, in response to its handling of the widespread protests that the country witnessed. Despite his indication about two weeks ago of a possible decline after halting executions of demonstrators, Trump returned to declare, last Thursday, that “a huge American military fleet is heading towards the Gulf region,” stressing that his country is “monitoring Iran.”
