Israeli airlines have been operating rescue flights to Ukraine for weeks, but many of those rescue flights remained empty, some even canceled due to lack of demand, and the bottom line is that about 8,000 Israelis remain in Ukraine.
As of last night, Ukrainian airspace is closed, insurance was revoked, and all flights to Ukraine stopped effective immediately. As a result, the State of Israel will now have to find other ways to rescue the thousands of Israelis still stranded in Ukraine after weeks of calling on its citizens to leave the country.
Israeli airlines have added flights to their schedule, but demand was low, many flights departed empty, and airlines were forced to cancel flight after flight. It seems like many Israelis were sure that war would not erupt or waited for the Israeli government to bail them out.
Israelis wishing to leave Ukraine will have to cross over to neighboring countries to board a rescue flight.
Due to the invasion, some flights to destinations like Lapland need to re-route to bypass Ukraine and the war zone.