Approved Airports for Flights to Israel

Key Points

Israel has published a revised list of approved airports from which international flights are allowed to land in Israel or overfly the LLLL/Tel Aviv FIR.
Check below for a summary of how to get an Israel landing or overflight permit, and what to expect on how that process works.

What’s changed?

You can find the new list here. (Published as AIC 3/23 on 11 Dec 2023, and appears under Israel’s AIP AIRAC update for 22 Feb 2024).

Looks like there’s only two changes this time:

LFPB/Paris Le Bourget has been added to the list (for GA flights only).
Bangalore’s international airport of VOBL/Kempegowda has replaced the city’s more random and joint-military airport of VOBG/Hal.

You can still apply to operate from airports not on the list, but you’ll need special permission which can take some time!

Previous updates to this list

Back in 2023, several airports were added, and several removed – notable removals included BIKF/Keflavik and BIRK/Reykjavik.

Airports that were removed:

TRS (Trieste)
KEF (Keflavik)
RKV (Reykjavik)
TIA (Tirana)
MSQ (Minsk)
BRE (Bremen)
STR (Stuttgart)
OHD (Ohrid)
KSC (Kosice)
RZE (Rzeszow)
OSR (Ostrava)
DBV (Dubrovnik)
SPU (Split)
CND (Mihail Kogălniceanu)
CRA (Craiova)

Airports that were added:

SSH (Sharm el Sheikh)
SEZ (Mahe)
BLR (Bangalore)
BOM (Mumbai)
ORD (Chicago)
BOS (Boston)
TSF (Treviso)
CRL (Brussels South Charleroi)
LEJ (Leipzig)
LYS (Lyon)
MRS (Marseille)
BVA (Beauvais Tille)
FMM (Memmingen)
NAP (Naples)
BRI (Bari)
VCE (Venice)
KGL (Kigali)

What do I need to do to fly to Israel?

It’s the same process for landings and overflights, except for the thing about a ‘local sponsor’ – you only need this for landing permits.

You must be departing from one of the approved airports in the approved list. Your destination airport doesn’t matter.
For landing permits: You need a ‘local sponsor’ – a contact person in Israel who can vouch for you. This person must be Israeli, and personally acquainted with all passengers – not just a travel agent or hotel representative. They will be contacted by the security services before any approval is given.
For overflight permits: You don’t need a local sponsor.
Your crew/pax/plane need to be from Israel-friendly countries: You must provide passport copies of the crew and passengers, who must be nationals of countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel. The same rule applies to the country your aircraft is registered in.
Fill in the permit application form, and send it back to ASOC at asoc@int.gov.il.

The next step is where it can get a bit confusing. Get ready for some jargon. Check out the full guidance on ASOC’s website, but here’s the lowdown on how it works and what to do:

ASOC will check your permit request, and if approved, will reply to you with a Pending Permission Notification.
The Captain must then call or log in to the ASOC website to submit an Entry Code. The Pending Permission Notification then becomes a Final Security Arrival Permit.
You’re good to go! On entering Israeli airspace, you’ve then got to follow the Arrival Identification Procedure. This bit is easier than it sounds – ATC will basically just ask for your Entry Code to approve you for entry. ASOC have published an example of how you can expect that conversation to go.

For overflights, there’s basically two options – N134 for westbound flights, and L53 for eastbound:

If you’ve been to Israel recently (or anywhere else, for that matter) and can share some info on how the trip went, please file an Airport Spy report and we can update this article and share the info with everyone!

Approved Airports for Flights to Israel