Problem
Returning 31 Employees Home Amid Airspace Closures
Amid escalated tensions between Iran-Israel and Israeli airspace closure to non-governmental flights, a client requested urgent support on 18 June to repatriate 31 Israeli employees from Athens to three destinations across Israel. The client requested a charter flight to fly their passengers from Athens to Tel Aviv.
Due to restrictions on the numbers of inbound flights, and potentials for short-notice airspace closure due to the State of Emergency our team also prepared a parallel plan to fly the passengers to Aqaba, Jordan, with transport to facilitate crossing the Wadi Araba/Yitzhak Rabin border to Eilat, Israel with onward transportation to their final destinations.
The client required:
- A safe and fast repatriation route
- Coordination across international borders
- Real-time problem solving to avoid delays
Solution
Securing Special Permission for an After-Hours Border Crossing
Due to airspace restrictions, our transport solutions team prepared two parallel options for movement, both direct into Tel Aviv and Aqaba, Jordan. This redundancy allowed for rapid tactical changes in response to airspace changes.
- A charter flight arranged from Athens to Aqaba on the afternoon of 20 June
- Transport from the Aqaba airport to the Jordanian border crossing, pick up from the Israeli side of the border crossing to Eilat
- Hotel accommodation in Eilat
- A private bus the next morning to transport employees from Eilat to their final destinations across Israel on 21 June
In order to accommodate passengers unable to reach Athens airport for the original flight time, our team held the aircraft and secured new takeoff and landing slots to allow them to join. Due to this change in timing, the group would no longer be able to land in Aqaba in time to complete the crossing at the border before it closed for the day. They would need to spend the night in Aqaba before conducting the crossing the following morning. We quickly secured accommodation for the group in Aqaba to adapt to this itinerary change.
In parallel, our local security provider engaged directly with the Jordanian authorities and, at the last minute, received special permission to reopen the border crossing late in order to let the group cross that same evening. The group was able to overnight in Eilat, on Israeli soil, before getting transferred to their final destinations the following morning.
Impact
Home Safely, Just in Time
All 31 employees were successfully repatriated and reunited with their families on 21 June, days before Israeli airspace reopened to Israeli government-run repatriation flights.
The client shared internal feedback expressing deep appreciation for the care and coordination during this critical time, as well as the opportunity to spend their first night back in their home country sooner than planned.