Israeli airline Arkia has canceled all flights from Jordan's Aqaba airport until further notice after Jordanian authorities unexpectedly declined to approve its operations. The sudden policy shift left hundreds of Israeli passengers stranded, including travelers bound for Bangkok and several European destinations.

Passengers scheduled to fly to Bangkok are being rerouted on chartered flights to Larnaca in Cyprus, where they will connect onward. Travelers heading to Athens are being transferred by bus to Egypt's Taba airport for departure, while flights to Budapest and Rome have been canceled entirely, with affected passengers instructed to return to the land border crossings.

Arkia had recently shifted some departures to Aqaba and Taba as an alternative to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport due to airspace restrictions linked to the war with Iran. The move by Jordanian authorities appears to prioritize local carriers and comes during a peak travel period ahead of the Passover holiday, when large numbers of Israelis have been crossing land borders into neighboring countries.