Israel. Israel Airports Authority has closed all its shops and most food & beverage outlets at Ben Gurion International Airport, following a government directive yesterday for all such non-essential services to shut nationwide.
Israel Airports Authority Director General – Commerce and Business Development Yoram Shapira confirmed the decision to The Moodie Davitt Report. “We left some F&B sites open but all others (shops and restaurants) are closed after last night’s decision by the government that all shopping malls etc. would be closed until we will pass this virus crisis.
“I have never been in this situation – never. Most of the time you know what to do and how to handle it. This time no. People are afraid to fly. And when they arrive back they have to stay at home for 14 days, so no-one wants to fly anyway.” – Israel Airports Authority Director General – Commerce and Business Development Yoram Shapira
“You can just pick up your takeaway, that’s it. You cannot sit in a restaurant – we are only operating a coffee bar service.”
The main retailer at Ben Gurion is JR/Duty Free, James Richardson – a joint venture between JR and Gebr Heinemann of Germany.
Shapira said that passenger traffic in March had plummeted 75-80% year-on-year. Most of those are Israelis returning home, non-Israeli Jewish visitors entering or non-Israelis leaving.
“Traffic has already dropped dramatically but as it looks right now, it will drop even more dramatically in a week or two,” he said.
Shapira said it was the worst crisis he had seen at the airport in a career at the commercial department dating back to early 1989. That included periods of major conflict with Israel’s neighbours as well as global events.
“I have never been in this situation – never. Most of the time you know what to do and how to handle it. This time no. People are afraid to fly. And when they arrive back they have to stay at home for 14 days, so no-one wants to fly anyway.”
“We are living in unprecedented times,” another Israeli travel retail executive told The Moodie Davitt Report.
