The Israel Airports Authority has reduced the baggage handling time for departing flights at Ben Gurion Airport from four to three hours before departure.
The reason for the reduction in time is the overload of the baggage compartment and the acute shortage of staff to handle baggage.
Formally, as the Airports Authority emphasizes, the three-hour standard has been in effect since November 2025, but in practice, Israeli airlines continued to open check-in counters four hours before departure during busy periods, and early baggage acceptance even helped speed up procedures: Israeli carriers accept passengers on all their flights without separating them by specific flight.
For passengers, this means that arriving at the airport in advance – in order to calmly go through all the procedures on busy days or spend more time in duty-free and terminal lounges – now makes no sense: it will not be possible to check in and check in luggage earlier than three hours before departure.
The innovation does not affect most foreign airlines – they already open check-in three hours before departure.