Israel’s El Al Airlines and its low-cost competitor Isair announced on Monday that they were further reducing their operations and carrier Arkia said it was taking steps to shift part of its operations to Egypt and Jordan, after the Transportation Ministry ordered a sharp reduction of traffic at Ben Gurion Airport, upending travel plans for tens of thousands of Israelis.

Late on Sunday after a security assessment, Transportation Minister Miri Regev opted to scale back the number of takeoffs and landings from Ben Gurion “in order to prevent potential risk to human life” due to continued Iranian missile fire at Israel. The move comes ahead of the Passover holiday next week and with schools going on vacation starting Tuesday.

The new limitations were set to go into effect starting 5 p.m. Monday, with the number of passengers permitted on a flight departing Ben Gurion Airport dropping to 50 from the current 120. There will be no restrictions on the number of passengers on arriving flights. However, the number of takeoffs and landings at Ben Gurion Airport will be restricted to one per hour, instead of the two previously allowed.

“This is an inconvenience, but our commitment to human life is our top priority, and this is where the decision is derived from,” said Regev. “At any given moment, in accordance with the recommendations of the security establishment and professional bodies, the guidelines may change.”

Arkia said the new directive effectively constituted a closure of the country’s airspace.

Flag carrier El Al said it would be limiting its outbound operations to just seven routes after announcing earlier on Monday that it was reviewing continued operations at the country’s main gateway due to the “significant” reduction in the number of passengers departing Israel, as well as in takeoffs and landings.

El Al, which has been operating repatriation flights since the outbreak of the US-Israeli air war with Iran on February 28, called on authorities to open Ramon Airport near the Red Sea port of Eilat as an alternative to Ben Gurion.

It said that in light of the newly imposed restrictions, it would be operating flights to just seven destinations across major cities in the US and Europe.

“We emphasize that the strict limitations on operations at Ben-Gurion Airport mean that we have transitioned to essential flight activity only, in order to maintain Israel’s air bridge to and from the world,” said El Al.

The Israeli carrier said it would operate a small number of flights to New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens. Flights arriving in Israel from these destinations will operate without passenger limitations.

“Given the limited number of seats, passenger allocation will be carried out according to flight assignment prioritization based on the original flight date, with priority given to exceptional humanitarian and medical cases,” El Al said.

Israir announced that it will operate a reduced flight schedule, with flights to nearby Athens in Greece, and Larnaca in Cyprus, alongside Rome in Italy, Tbilisi in Georgia, and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

“The new framework severely limits our ability to operate flights on a regular and cost-effective basis,” said Israir. “As part of the outline, we were allowed to operate only about 50% of the number of flights that were recently operated, and each flight is capped at up to 50 passengers from Israel.”

“The destinations will serve as hubs for continuing flights to various destinations,” the airline added.

Passengers who have already purchased tickets to Athens, Larnaca, Rome, Tbilisi and Addis Ababa will be reassigned to flights in accordance with the new schedule. Once the reassignment process is completed, flights will be open for sale on Israir’s website and through travel agents.

Arkia said it will operate four daily flights to Larnaca and Athens from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. In addition, Arkia will organize flights departing from airports in Taba and Aqaba, situated close to Israel’s land border crossings with Egypt and Jordan, respectively.

“Arkia will continue to operate responsibly in accordance with the guidelines, while maintaining the safety of its passengers and providing alternative and creative aviation solutions,” said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz. “However, under the current framework, regular aviation activity cannot be maintained, as it practically means the closure of Israel’s skies.”

The flights chartered on leased foreign aircraft departing from Aqaba airport will operate to the following destinations: Sofia, Athens, Paris, New York, Bangkok, and Hanoi. From the Taba airport, flights will depart for Rome.

Travel agents said the move effectively canceled all Passover travel plans.

“The current situation and recent restrictions coupled with suspensions of flight services by foreign airlines have led to the cancellation of approximately a quarter of a million tickets for the Passover period, creating a significant vacuum that cannot be filled,” Shirley Cohen Orkaby, VP at Eshet Tours, told The Times of Israel. “In practice, the new restrictions on flights from Ben Gurion Airport mean that there is currently no real way to travel abroad from Israel.”

“Most Israelis who booked flights will no longer travel abroad this coming Passover,” said Cohen Arkaby.

Israel’s airspace has been shut to most commercial traffic since February 28, when Israel launched joint attacks with the US on the Iranian regime. Earlier this month, Ben Gurion Airport gradually reopened for limited inbound and outbound flights, operated solely by Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia, Israir and Air Haifa, to repatriate over 100,000 stranded abroad.

Last week, Israel started to tighten passenger quota restrictions on outbound flights after three private jets parked at Ben Gurion Airport were damaged by debris following the interception of an Iranian ballistic missile. The fresh restrictions come after Iranian ballistic missiles targeted central and southern Israel in recent days, with multiple impacts and people injured.

Yaneev Lanis, founder of online booking site Secret Flights, said the new restrictions reduce air traffic by 75 percent or even 80% of the previous already limited activity.

“No Israeli airline has a real alternative for travelers,” said Lanis. “That’s as demand is high from Israelis who want to leave because Passover vacation is beginning soon, and people are running to shelters multiple times a day.”

“Even Arkia, which is chartering flights from Aqaba, has a very reduced capacity, and they don’t have enough seats to offer their passengers,” he added.

Similarly, Cohen Arkaby said that “a small number will still depart on the limited flights operated by Israeli airlines from Ben Gurion Airport, or via Taba or Aqaba.”

Asked whether traveling via Taba or Aqaba is dangerous for Israelis, Cohen Arkaby said it is a “personal choice.”

“From what I understand from Israelis who are traveling through these routes, they rely on the judgment of Israel’s security authorities,” said Cohen Arkaby.

Since the start of the Iran war, and amid the restrictions on Israel’s airspace, Arkia and Israir have been offering flights from airports in Taba and Aqaba chartered by foreign aircraft to some destinations in Europe to help stranded Israelis return home and others leave the country via land border crossings, which have remained open.

Between February 28 and March 18, more than 52,000 people have left the country via land border crossings, and more than 38,000 have entered Israel via land routes, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

That’s as foreign airlines have been extending the suspension of flight services to and from Israel for the coming weeks, and some until June.

“We are seeing many Israelis who are choosing to replace their overseas vacation with a domestic one, mainly in hotels in Eilat and the Dead Sea,” said Cohen Arkaby.

Regev said Sunday night that since Ben Gurion Airport was gradually reopened, 140,000 Israelis have returned home on repatriation flights operated by Israeli airlines.

“Since the operation of repatriating Israelis is completed and no Israeli is stuck abroad, Israeli airlines could completely stop all passenger flights as there is no reason for any air connection abroad,” said Lanis.

Arkia said it will also operate minimal traffic from Ben Gurion Airport, including flights to Larnaca and Athens, mainly for humanitarian reasons.

“It makes sense that they want to take as many Israelis as they can to the nearest hubs,” said Lanis. “At the same time, if there’s not enough demand for travelers back into Israel and nobody’s funding those empty seats, then it doesn’t make any financial or economical sense to fly a plane that is a quarter full to Paris just to come back come back half full or empty, since there is not enough demand right now to travel to Israel.”