Travel plans in disarray as large-scale USAF deployment crowds Israel's Ben Gurion Airport

Travelers passing through Israel's Ben Gurion Airport are facing significant delays this week as more than 30 U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft occupy large sections of the airport ahead of a possible renewed military campaign against Iran.

The deployment has added to congestion at Israel's main international gateway during one of the busiest weeks of the summer travel season, reducing space for civilian aircraft and contributing to delays for thousands of passengers departing and arriving at the airport.

According to reports, the U.S. Air Force plans to station 10 additional refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion in the coming days, a move that could further strain airport operations and complicate airline schedules.

The airport itself estimates that travelers using Terminal 3 experienced delays of about 65 minutes, while those using Terminal 1 faced delays of approximately 61 minutes. Some passengers also reported waiting up to two hours to collect their luggage.

Following numerous complaints from travelers, the Israel Airports Authority acknowledged the operational challenges:

"The presence of the partner aircraft (the refuelers) at the airport creates unusual operational congestion and a domino effect that affects the pace of activity and flight schedules. This impact is felt even more strongly during the peak of the summer season, when Ben Gurion Airport is operating at unprecedented activity levels and serving a particularly large number of passengers and flights every day."

The airport's difficulties have also been compounded by unrelated technical issues. In recent days, a malfunction in the communications network used by Israeli air traffic controllers to coordinate with their counterparts in Greece disrupted operations.

Because many flights between Israel and Europe pass through Greek airspace, the outage caused additional delays. Separate technical problems affecting the European air traffic management network, Eurocontrol, in Brussels also led to flight delays and routing disruptions across the region.

"We landed late and then it took us forever to get our luggage, so we were also late getting on our bus and that meant we were late getting to our hotel and we missed dinner," Paul N., a Canadian pastor who arrived on Saturday with members of his congregation for a 10-day visit, told ALL ISRAEL NEWS.

"It was a frustrating way to begin our Holy Land pilgrimage, but we're all feeling very blessed and excited to be here in the Land where Jesus walked and the Bible was written," he said.

Paul added that his group also hopes to encourage Israelis during their visit.

"We want to be a blessing as well. We know you've had a tough few years here and we want to try and bring some comfort and blessings to you," he said.

Although the airport delays disrupted the start of the trip, Paul said he expects the situation will improve before he returns later this year.

"I plan on coming back here with another group at Christmas and I'm sure the airport will be squared away by then. Stuff happens sometimes, you gotta roll with it."