{"id":163385,"date":"2026-06-16T19:06:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/163385\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T19:06:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T19:06:40","slug":"us-said-to-be-moving-20-of-its-refuelers-from-israel-airport-easing-travel-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/163385\/","title":{"rendered":"US said to be moving 20% of its refuelers from Israel airport, easing travel pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington is reportedly preparing to start removing part of its refuelers parked at Tel Aviv\u2019s Ben Gurion Airport in recent months, following an emerging deal between the United States and Iran to end their war, Hebrew media reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>In the coming days, the US is expected to relocate about 20 percent of its 72 aircraft stationed at Ben Gurion Airport, according to reports in the Hebrew press, after the US agreed a deal to end the war with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The fleet of US planes is causing a parking shortage, threatening to severely limit flight operations of commercial airlines at Israel\u2019s main international gateway, ahead of the peak summer holiday months.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry was not available for comment when contacted by The Times of Israel. The Pentagon declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, Transportation Minister Miri Regev sent an urgent letter to warn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that unless many of the US aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport are relocated immediately, some 2.4 million plane tickets scheduled for the peak summer months and holiday season could be canceled.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Regev demanded to immediately relocate about 30 US aircraft to airports outside of Israel, or move them to Israeli Air Force bases.<\/p>\n<p>The Israel Airports Authority was expected on Tuesday to notify Israeli airlines that they need to prepare to cancel some of their flights scheduled for the summer peak season starting on July 1 and potentially the High Holidays season in September and October. For now, the Israel Airports Authority said it has held off sending a letter to local airlines in light of reports of progress on the relocation of part of the US aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20260225__98W38NG__v4__HighRes__IsraelUsDefence.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3763662\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260225__98W38NG__v4__HighRes__IsraelUsDefence-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tUS Air Force refueling aircraft are seen parked on the tarmac of the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on February 25, 2026. (Jack GUEZ \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Israel Airports Authority cautioned that additional US refueling tankers need to be removed to avert flight traffic disruptions and remove the risk of hundreds of thousands of cancellations during the peak summer travel season.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, a fleet of about 72 US refuelers and cargo planes was parked at Ben Gurion Airport as part of the US military buildup in the region due to the war with Iran. The congestion at Ben Gurion has been making operations more expensive for local airlines, due to parking costs at bases outside of Israel, while limiting the number of flights Israeli airlines can operate.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tWe can&#8217;t do this work alone.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_5258-200x200.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-square size-square wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n<p>There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n<p>As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can&#8217;t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. 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Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington is reportedly preparing to start removing part of its refuelers parked at Tel Aviv\u2019s Ben Gurion Airport&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[27587,2622,1519,539,37,7213,27617,22054],"class_list":["post-163385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2026-us-israel-war-with-iran","tag-airlines","tag-aviation","tag-ben-gurion-airport","tag-israel","tag-israel-airports-authority","tag-israeli-airspace","tag-summer"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116761354940239658","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}