Back in May, Managing Director of Ben-Gurion International Airport Shmuel Zakai announced that air travel to and from Israel would resume on July 1. Since then, the coronavirus epidemic in the country only worsened, and Israelis are unwelcome in many countries around the world because of the nation's high number of cases.
On Monday, the Israel Airport Authorities informed airlines serving Israel that the date for a re-launch of air travel had been postponed again, and the current restrictions would remain in place until Sept. 1.
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This means that foreign citizens will not be allowed to enter Israel through the end of the summer, and Israelis returning from abroad will still have to quarantine themselves for two weeks.
The Health Ministry has refused to set up corona testing stations at Ben-Gurion Airport to process Israelis or tourists arriving in Israel.
As a result, Israel's aviation and tourism industries will have to write off most of the current year, with losses that include the peak periods of Passover and summer.
However, despite Monday's announcement, many employees of the tourism and aviation sectors doubt that the airport will open as slated on Sept. 1 and expect that air travel will not resume until after the High Holidays, which begin at the end of September.
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