Several El Al aircraft landed at Ben Gurion Airport shortly before the onset of Shabbos on Friday evening, leaving some Shabbos-observant passengers facing the extraordinary prospect of spending Shabbos inside the airport after there was insufficient time for all their luggage to be unloaded and for them to leave before shkiah.
The unusual situation unfolded amid the continuing fallout from Thursday’s surprise strike by workers at Ben Gurion Airport, which caused massive disruptions to flights and baggage handling and left airport personnel struggling to clear a significant backlog throughout Friday.
Several El Al flights arrived in Israel extremely close to the onset of Shabbos. Although the aircraft themselves succeeded in landing before Shabbos, the late arrivals left passengers with only a very limited window to disembark, pass through passport control, retrieve their luggage and leave the airport.
The continuing baggage crisis made that virtually impossible for some travelers.
With suitcases not expected to be unloaded in time, Shabbos-observant passengers who remained at the airport when Shabbos began were expected to spend Shabbos at Ben Gurion rather than leave the airport after shkiah. Their luggage was expected to remain in the airport’s baggage system until it could be processed.
The remarkable scene was the latest consequence of a chaotic 24 hours at Israel’s primary international airport. While Thursday’s strike ended and airport operations formally resumed, its effects continued throughout Friday, particularly in the baggage-handling system.
Thousands of pieces of luggage had accumulated during the disruption, leaving ground crews facing a major backlog as they attempted to service arriving and departing aircraft.
Some arriving travelers were forced to wait extended periods for their suitcases, while some departing flights reportedly left Israel without all of their passengers’ checked baggage in an effort to prevent further flight delays.
The proximity of Shabbos created an additional complication for El Al, which maintains a longstanding policy of not operating flights on Shabbos.
Earlier Friday, El Al canceled Flight LY8 from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport after delays made it impossible for the aircraft to reach Israel before Shabbos. Passengers had already boarded and were seated when the decision was made to cancel the flight.
Rather than allow the aircraft to depart knowing that it would land after the onset of Shabbos, El Al returned the plane to the gate and had passengers disembark.
The flights that were already airborne and approaching Israel Friday afternoon presented a different scenario. Those aircraft were able to touch down before Shabbos, but the narrow window between landing and shkiah left observant passengers confronting the question of whether they could actually get out of Ben Gurion in time.
For those who could not, the issue went well beyond the inconvenience of delayed baggage. Once Shabbos began, traveling home from the airport was no longer an option for Shabbos-observant passengers.
As a result, some passengers were expected to remain inside Ben Gurion throughout Shabbos, unable to continue their journeys until after Shabbos ended Saturday night.
The extraordinary predicament underscored the far-reaching consequences of Thursday’s airport strike. What began as a labor dispute and resulted in flight cancellations, lengthy delays and mountains of stranded luggage ultimately spilled into Erev Shabbos, leaving travelers racing against a deadline that could not be pushed back.
For the passengers aboard the final El Al flights to arrive Friday afternoon, the planes made it to Israel before Shabbos.
Getting home before Shabbos was another matter entirely.
