Due to a wave of flight cancellations triggered by the fall of a Houthi missile near Ben-Gurion Airport, hundreds of Israelis and tourists were stranded – myself included.
The result of all these cancellations was that hundreds of people found themselves stuck in airports across Europe and Israel – some with no assistance and others facing exorbitant costs, with no clue when they’ll be able to return home. I was among them.
It all started with a simple plan for a short trip: A friend asked me to accompany him for 24 hours in Israel so he could pray at the Western Wall. Our Ryanair flight from the UK to Paphos left without a hitch, but after arriving, security alerts began, and flights to and from Israel started getting canceled, including our connecting flight to Israel.
With me were four other Israelis who were also stranded. With no other option, we took a taxi to Larnaca for €160, trying to find an alternative flight. Booking sites painted a grim picture: all flights were full, and prices were skyrocketing.
In Larnaca, we found no Israeli representation, but we managed to book a single flight for a ridiculous €200 one-way ticket – and after a long wait, we boarded and arrived in Israel.
Now, getting back to Manchester is another issue. As I was writing these lines, I had just discovered that my return flight to the UK had been canceled. And the prices for the remaining flights? Astronomical.
I hope by the time you’re reading this, I’ll have made it back. I now have a new flight on Thursday night.
On the way in Cyprus, we met dozens more Israelis – couples, families, solo travelers – all in the same situation.Yaniv and Idan, for example, were traveling in Cyprus and found out their flight home was canceled.
“We’ve been looking for a solution for two days,” they said. They managed to find seats on an El Al flight for about NIS 400. “It’s a lot, but we have no choice.”
At the Chabad House in Larnaca, we met many more. Nachman, a hassid who went to Kerestir, Hungary, for the hillula (death anniversary) of Rabbi Yeshayale, said he returned via Budapest – only to discover no flights were departing from there either. “I don’t even have a smartphone,” he said. “Luckily, someone helped me find an Arkia flight for tomorrow – unless it gets canceled too.”
Problems as a tour operator
Javier Flesel from the popular Facebook page “Bgadol Tasim B’zol” (In General, Fly Cheap) told me about the problems he faces as a tour operator.
“I work 24/7 to help people,” he said. “I can’t always help, especially during times when airports are closed. There are many stories of people getting stuck abroad, as well as people who arrived here and have to return home, or booked a vacation and the flight was canceled at the last minute – then the hotel refuses to cancel or refund the payment.”
Flesel said he has clients in Paphos, a large group of young adults, many of whom had survived the Nova festival or had spent a long time in reserve duty.
“They went to unwind, and their flight from Paphos was canceled two days ago,” he said. “We searched for flights and found an option to return from Larnaca at a still reasonable price with a Cypriot airline. Some returned on May 7 and others on May 8 on a different flight with an Israeli airline. They had to add two nights in Paphos at their own expense, but they managed to return home safely.”
Flesel said the cancellations didn’t skip over the elderly either.
“There was a couple who got stuck in Budapest and agreed to fly to Cyprus, stay in a hotel there for two nights, and return home two days later than originally planned,” he told me. “They haven’t returned yet – and are only expected to arrive home on Sunday. They’re enjoying two more days of vacation, but the financial damage for the flight difference plus the hotel is more than NIS 1,500 per person. “
Flesel says it wasn’t a bad deal for them – it’s better to pay a little more for your vacation than to pay thousands to airlines that sometimes, unfortunately, take advantage of passengers’ desperation.
He said he heard of people who got stuck in Barcelona and paid thousands of shekels to return directly to Israel with an Israeli airline.
“In my opinion, it’s a mistake to panic and rush to decide – sometimes people end up paying thousands unnecessarily, when there are solutions like flights with stopovers,” he said. “Right now, I’m helping four people stuck in Bucharest, Romania, and I’m looking for an option to fly to an intermediate destination, but I haven’t succeeded yet because they are Sabbath observant, so it seems they’ll have to spend a few more days abroad.”
Flesel said a lot of people on outbound flights from Israel are also experiencing last-minute cancellations and are stuck with hotel bookings where the cancellation option is no longer valid, and the hotel refused to refund them.
“Sometimes the loss is substantial,” he said.
Airlines sometimes cancel flights until a certain date, and as the resumption date approaches, they cancel again and add more days of cancellation, Flesel said.
“This is one of the major problems that travel agents and passengers face, because no one knows exactly when the airlines will resume flights to Israel,” he said. “It’s important and advisable to book flights with companies or agents who can provide real-time service and support to customers. Many people don’t know how to deal with these situations, and a professional and experienced agent is a real added value to help clients find solutions.”
Flesel endorses the Keep Calm and Carry On slogan.
“Some people stay calm and take everything in stride, while others get very anxious. Personally, I recommend understanding that in the end, everyone will get home, and panicking doesn’t help deal with the situation.”
And, so, the stories repeat themselves: ultra-Orthodox travelers who went to religious pilgrimages, families whose vacations were cut short, tourists of all kinds stuck in Europe or Israel, waiting for a seat on a flight back home.
And like many others, I am still waiting. Will I return soon? And at what cost?
That remains to be seen.